So What Is S.I.M.P.L.E.?

Well, I'm glad you asked.  I had this great post planned about our "SIMPLE" Christmas, even had most of it written but that wasn't what was on my heart.  Guess I'll have to save that one for later this week... I'm sure you can't wait...LOL!

The dear husband and I have had many talks over the past two years or so about developing a "simple" lifestyle.  We live almost in the center of a city that whole-heartedly endorses a "More Is Better" philosophy (the more activities your kids are in the better, the more rooms in your house the better, the more toys you have the better... you get the idea).  Well, we've been down that road and it is just not OUR philosophy any more.  So what do we do??? We work on making things S.I.M.P.L.E.

Somewhere along the path, I began to see that "simple" was more than a lifestyle I wanted, S.I.M.P.L.E. stood for the areas of my life that I want to focus on.  And amazingly enough they line up in order of importance.  So let's take a look...

S - Spiritual... this would include my prayer time, bible reading, learning more about my faith, spending time with God, time at church.

I - "I" (well, that would be me...LOL!)... this includes hygiene, health, hobbies, activities that I enjoy.

M - Marriage... these are goals that I have for my marriage, improving my relationship with my husband, activities with him.

P - Parent... these are the goals I have as a parent, ways to improve my communication with my children, activities I want to do with them, discipline, and habits I think they should have regarding hygiene, health and hobbies.

L - Living arrangements... this is the one that includes cleaning, paying bills, menu planning (if I ever did that), laundry, vehicle maintenance.

E - Education... this is important to me because I educate my children at home, but as they grow older, it will probably evolve to my own education or to a career of some sort.  If you do have children, but don't school them at home, then this would be for the "Extras" like sports, homework, and things like that.

I've already begun working on these this year but am just now beginning to give this idea a voice.  If you read this blog, I hope you will follow me over on S.I.M.P.L.E., as well.  And I'd love for you to give it a try and comment on your S.I.M.P.L.E. plans.  My hope is to have some planning sessions before the new year and then begin with a more formal S.I.M.P.L.E. plan in January.  Hope to see you there!

In love and recovery,

ThereO