How to Know Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes

Do you ever feel like you're not really sure what exactly you're supposed to do here on the earth? I feel that way a lot. I mean, sure, I'm a wife and mother, I strive to simplify my life because I make my life dramatic as it is, I need to find some kind of peace, and I'm religious, and almost have a bachelors degree, but I still feel like I have something special to bring to the world. I believe we all do because we're all so unique, so I dwell on this a lot. This TEDx talks really inspired me a few months ago. I hope you enjoy this!

By the way,...I'll be in Paris in just a few more hours! I won't be blogging much about my Paris trip until I get back home but I will still be blogging for the next 3 1/2 weeks while I'm away. (Really these blogs are all on a timer so I can just enjoy my trip!) Loves!

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Free Food and Medicine

 You might remember this book from this post here. I got it for my birthday. I am so excited to develop my new found hobby of eating wild plants! There is a guy up in Canada that gets all his food in a 1 mile radius of his house, and he lived in the suburbs. So I plan on going around my 1 mile radius to see what is edible where I live. Plus foraging in the mountains. This book identifies all kinds of things from what we call "weeds" to things we have domesticated into our own vegetable gardens, and things you would find in the desert, mountains, tropics, the list goes on. It also tells if the plant's leaves, stem, fruit, and root is edible and the benefits we receive from it. I think that learning what plants are edible around us is just one of the ways to be able to survive any catastrophe we might face. And the way the economy is going, it's good to be prepared. Not to mention I recently took a test to see how I learn best and it said I learn things when in nature so this book is right up my alley.

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Photos taken by yours truly.

Getting Out of The Poor Mentality

I guess you could say this is my belated Thanksgiving, thankful note. With about half the world living on $2.50 or less a day, (that's well over 3 billion people!), and about 80% of the world living on $10 or less a day, I have so much to be thankful for. Now, like my economist husband pointed out to me, we're comparing dollars and in some countries a dollar really goes a long way, yes, true, but living in America alone we are so richly blessed. Honestly, unless you are too stubborn to get help, you don't ever have to go without food, shelter, or clothing in the United States! One point my husband and I only had $15 dollars in our bank account, right before I was about to panic, I looked around at my apartment. I still had a warm home, food in my cupboards, and everything else that I needed. I am greatly blessed with abundance and feel like I'm living like a Queen! One of my most favorite talks I have heard was given at my school about how even though as college students we seem to be poor, here on campus, we are some of the richest people in the world because we actually have the opportunity to get an education. And with this education we can help those that are not as fortunate as we are. So that is what I have to share during this holiday time. I am so so so thankful for the abundance I have been blessed with. My physical needs are met, and I have been blessed with the richness of education and the wealth of good family and friends! So before you think of all the things you don't have, and maybe think you need to purchase for yourself this holiday season, try thinking of what you already have been given.

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Talk: Caring For The Poor and Needy
Photo: http://megainsights.com/poverty-mentality-among-nigerians/

Getting Rid, As a Way To Get More

I'm a big believer that if we declutter our lives, then we have space for better opportunitites to come and to become our true selves. The type of decluttering I'm talking about is our physical objects we own, decluttering our bodies from extra weight that's weighing us down, decluttering our minds by forgiving and letting go, decluttering our time that is wasted on things that don't matter. I'm tired of feeling tired, weighed down by things that don't matter. Physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, I want peace in my life, the kind of happiness that doesn't go away.
Though I believe in this, addiction plagues my everyday choices. From the amount of sugar I eat, to the amount of times I have to check my Facebook in a day, to the everyday nap I've been taking almost my whole life. Is it normal to be so tired?! I don't think so, I think it's an option, but change has to take place.
This change won't be easy. Even part of me doesn't want to because I know it won't be easy. There's what society says is a need and will make you happy, and then there's truth. Most of us our in denial and instead we keep stuffing our faces in front of the TV because then we don't have to deal with real life. We make our lives complicated to please, to look "normal", because we worry about things that may or may not happen in the future, and the list goes on! Mostly everyone I see including myself is a slave to something. Things we're not even aware of.
So here's to decluttering, here's to letting go, to making concious choices, and changing my life.

To be continued...

Living Simple to Me Means.....Mental Clarity

I was going to write about something else today, but there has been something pressing on my mind. Yesterday as I was getting ready for church, I thought to myself, "now what am I going to take with me to church to keep me occupied?" Right after that thought came, "I shouldn't be taking anything with me to keep me occupied. If anything paper and a pen to take to write down any impressions I have, that is it!"

That got me thinking about how I have been wanting to live a more simple lifestyle but that it goes much deeper than just the stuff that I own. What about the stuff that preoccupies my thoughts? Call it ADD that I am always doing multiple things at the same time if you'd like, but I think to an extent as a society we have made ourselves this way. For myself, what is the one thing that distracts me more than anything else? Answer: the internet! Since we don't own a TV, this is where all my distractions come from, since you can watch anything online anyways. When I wake up in the morning, I check the time on my phone, and then on my phone, I go on Facebook. If I need to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or eat (remember I'm in my last month of pregnancy), I watch something on Youtube before going back to sleep. When I take my afternoon siesta I watch something on the internet. I check my e-mail, Facebook, blog page views in a day more than I can count. And that doesn't even include the amount of time I surf the internet, go on Pinterest, or even look up something productive, like the definition of propriety! I find myself online longer than I planned, and while I am still looking random things up, I am thinking in my head, "ok you really need to get started on...X, Y, Z," but I'm not doing it.

There have been somethings that I really wanted to do but still haven't gotten to them because I've been "too busy." Somethings that have to do with personal growth, that are personal enough I won't share on my blog. So, starting last night, I have made some rules for myself this week, from now until next Monday, as well as some goals.

Rules:
Will only go online this week for the following...

1. Check my Facebook, e-mail, and blog only once a day (this includes when I write a blog post)
2. Will go online to plan my meals for the week (which is a one time thing)
3. Balance our 'checkbook'
4. Since my husband doesn't have texting, I will be on chat, in case I need/want to communicate with him while he's working.

Instead of being online, here are some goals I want to make:

1. Keep my house in order, as well as the other essentials
2. Go on a walk
3. Take the time to ponder, meditate, etc.
4. Draw one thing everyday
5. Start and finish a book, this week I've decided on reading Blink. This will be great for me since I always have at least 4 books I'm reading at once and it takes me forever to finish any of them.
6. Finish my 'to do' list before baby comes
7. Spend quality time with those around me

So far I have almost gone online for other than what I have written, 3 times! But I hope to find more fulfillment and meaning in my life this next week, as well as a chance to clear my thoughts and be more in the presence. Wish me luck!

Living Simple to Me Means.....Reducing Waste

 Have you ever heard about this family? The family of four only throws away a couple handfuls of trash in the entire year! With the average person's trash totaling to about 1,600 pounds of trash a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, this family has really made a conscious effort to reduce their waste to literally hardly anything. Bea, the mother of the family, explained their reasoning by saying,  "We set out to simplify our lives, and it turned into something good for the environment." She's also expressed how freeing it has been to downsize their lives not just by reducing waste but moving from a 3,000 sq ft home to a 1,400 sq ft home and not having any clutter in their home, only owning the minimal things that they actually need. They've reduced waste by bringing their own class jars, containers, and reusable canvas bags to the grocery store. They also use handkerchief, bamboo toothbrushes, and compost in the backyard.

After reading about their inspiring story and fully aware of how much our society consumes and throws away a lot of waste in the trash, I decided to document my trash from the last week of our apartment. I wanted to see how much trash we throw away with it only being the two of us.

Our trash in one week:

 This families trash in a year:

Obviously there is a big difference! Although I don't think I'm quite ready to be that savvy about my waste, I'm going to try this next week to recycle everything that can be recycled, and compost what I can. I think we can all do a better job at using the "3 R's" of reusing, reducing, and recycling. I hope to get some mental clarity like this family has in doing things that are good for the environment.












Green waste icon: http://www.mossenvy.com/Articles.asp?ID=142
Photos/Quotes/Articles: http://www.mossenvy.com/Articles.asp?ID=142
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20559312,00.html
Statistic: http://www.wisegeek.org/how-much-garbage-does-a-person-create-in-one-year.htm