Living Deliberately

Living Deliberately or with purpose is like walking in life with a road map, knowing where you are going. So often we just live without conviction or purpose. I am not talking religion here, although ones spiritual direction usually plays a part in living deliberately. Its just that the spiritual part of it is usually very individualized, so no point in going into that part.

Long time ago, I had a plan for my life...long before I was married. I wanted certain things in my life and my purpose was set. The destination was clear and that meant I needed to make choices to get me there and not be distracted.

I remember reading somewhere that people that set goals for their life each year with objectives, are far more likely to succeed than those that don't set them.

I had clear goals as a teenager and as a young adult. I wanted to live the very life I am living now. The only thing that I never got was the log cabin, but I am not dead yet, there is still time for that one !

Living deliberately means you have clear cut goals and some are cornerstone sort of goals and others are well, just more flexible and might even change in time. Oh yes, forgot another dream that didn't work out, I wanted 13 children. Just didn't happen, so now I am opting for that amount in grandchildren !

I knew at a young age that who I picked for a husband would be one of those cornerstone goals. I wanted a farmer, a bearded, quiet sort of guy. Someone that loved the outdoors, had no temper, and loved to learn. Well, I held on till I found one just like that. Then I kept my dream alive for a farm, with goats, chickens, children with bare feet, Waldorf education sort of children, that would search for fairies and gnomes, love to sing and dance, play with wooden toys and build forts in the trees. Never once did I wish for wealth or even more money than we would need to live simply.

Even when we lived in yuppie-ville, I held on to those goals. I lived with the purpose of reaching my dreams. I took the opportunity to read, research and learn everything I could about simple living when I wasn't living that life. It was my learning years, my goals still in front of me, taking tiny steps to get closer to fulfilling them.

Jump a head now to the present....those goals all came to be.
I am living in the country. I am living simply. We have no debt, not a one...no house payments, no car payments, no credit card payments, nothing owed to anyone.

I have my critters. I have my spinning wheel. My house is heated with wood. Our footsteps on this planet are gentle ones. Not a single appliance that we cannot live without. Except the toaster maybe. We live with conscience and purpose and certainly deliberate. What we do for entertainment is tied in with our desire to live in touch with nature and in step with our lifestyle.

Our girls, having been raised from birth with us, are those Waldorf children grown into adults, living with awareness of the true importance of life. Free to be themselves, not hindered or living in the shadows of what society tells them life is about. They know the real value of living simply.

I have the life I set out for, but there is more goals forming... See the northern lights, hike into Havasupai, maybe by some land and put a little cabin on it with no running water, no electricity.

Learn Chinese. Stick to eating vegan. Be comfortable in my spiritual convictions. Live more green than we do now. Keep running from narrow mindedness, and most important of all, never stop making goals and living deliberately !