Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff

You know how good a warm room and dry clothes feel after you've been really cold and wet.  How refreshing a glass of ice water is on a hot and sticky day.  How comforting it is to relax in bed after a day of hard work.  How uplifting it is to smile and chat (even briefly) with someone friendly after a period of isolation. Those good things are made better by contrast.  We appreciate them more because of the not-so-good situations that preceded them. Our human condition No one escapes difficulties.  Maybe you have fewer than some (I hope so), but no one's life is perfect all the time.  My 28-year-old niece has an incurable neurological disorder.  She and her doctors are managing it well for now, but the disease is unpredictable, and severe attacks can come at any time. My husband's colleague has cancer.  She's 20 years (at least) younger than I am, yet she has to think about the possibility of dying in a year or two. I'm sure all of you know people...

Did you watch any of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics?  I've always loved watching the figure skating and ice dancing.  My son gets a kick out of curling.  My grandsons were excited by the snowboarding.  My husband enjoys hockey, especially this year when he had a distant connection to the team.  The daughter of a lifelong friend of one of Jon's colleagues skated for the U.S.  Forward Abbey Murphy won the gold medal along with her teammates in a tense overtime match against Canada.  Congratulations! Isn't it great to witness those incredible performances, the feats of strength, agility, endurance, and mental fortitude?  No matter who wins, it's moving to realize what that athlete has accomplished, and what every athlete who has participated in the Games has achieved.  How often do you get to witness such joy and fulfillment? What comes next? But once you've reached to top of your game, what comes next?  How does anyone, world class at...

Most of us in Western countries have bigger homes than ever before, but we're also living with more chaos and stress.  We have more space and more storage, but we also have a ton more stuff.  We've traded that overabundance for less peace, less control, and a feeling that our belongings are crowding us out. Have you ever stood in your kitchen armed with a broom, mop, cleansers, dish rags, paper towels, and sponges, and still felt like the space wasn't quite clean?  Maybe it wasn't technically dirty, but it felt crowded, heavy, and mentally noisy. The reality is that most of us haven't really learned how to clean.  What we do instead is react .  Spill something?  Wipe it up.  Notice the dust?  Swiffer it, or run the vacuum.  But we've never learned prevention .  We learned to notice a mess, but not how to create a system that would keep it from building up in the first place. The good news is that you don't need to put more energy into cl...

Some of you may be thinking about what you want to give up for Lent, which beings this Wednesday, February 18th.  You may know that Lent is a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and charitable giving in preparation for Good Friday and Easter. Or maybe you're not religious, not a Christian, or not one of those Christians who follows ancient church practices.  That's not a problem, because the topic I want to write about today applies to anyone who's interested in self-mastery. Who is the master? Did you know that almost every culture has some sort of fasting or renunciation practice?  Refraining from things that attract (particularly food) has been a way to increase personal control and focus throughout many centuries for people all over the world. Maybe it's because humans are the only animals that can say no to treats.  Think about it – a hungry dog, mouse, or fish will never hold themselves back from gobbling up whatever food is available, sometimes even when it's d...

I admit it – I can be self-centered.  Demanding.  Judgmental. And that's with people I care about, or at least those with whom I have no quarrel. But enemies?  People who have let me down, or even hurt me?  People I don't get along with, or (for whatever reason) just don't like?  Most of the time I try to avoid those people.  I try not to think about them.  I certainly don't do anything to improve the situation. Yet, shockingly, as a Christian I should be very different.  Jesus actually taught – and lived – that we should love our enemies.  Pray for them. "If you love those who love you," he said, "why should you be rewarded?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?"  (Matthew 5:46-47) It sounds crazy and impossible.  However, there is absolutely no chance for peace anywhere unless we at least attempt it. Human nature It's natural for us to pray for people ...

Years ago, my home wasn't clutter-free.  I had two young children, and we homeschooled.  We had busy schedules.  We had a long list of things we wanted to buy, even though we already owned more than we needed.  Every closet, cupboard, and drawer was full.  The garage was full.  A large shed in the backyard was full.  And even though I decluttered pretty regularly (we held yard sales two or three times a year), our possessions never actually diminished because we always bought more... and more. Weekends were given over to cleaning, organizing, chores, and shopping.  We'd come home with new purchases we had to somehow fit into our already-too-full home – plus the credit card receipts that proved we were buying way too many things we couldn't actually afford. I didn't wake up one morning and say "I want to become a minimalist."  I did feel like I needed to clean up and pare down my home.  But learning to declutter for good – instead of be...