Downsize everything but your goals.

So my PVR broke. I'm not going to lie, I panicked for a split second. Part of my security blanket was missing. Part of something I could depend on, a staple, the one consistent thing I could rely on was now gone. When the rest of the world was crazy I could count on this little box to capture my most favourite pastime. PASTIME. What a horrible term. Why do I want to pass time? I don't know how much time I have left. Then a day passed and another day passed and I didn't miss it. Do you know I had over 20 shows recording throughout the week. I miss maybe 2 of them and speaking frankly I don't know if I "miss" them.

Now I do still have a T.V. I have only lost the HD channels but I still get every show. I just have to decide in that moment what the most important thing is for me to do. Like the old days. "We need to have supper early and get the kids bathed cuz our show is on at 7pm."  This channel downsize forces me to evaluate the priorities in my life. This unexpected change has freed up hours of my time. Time I use to pass.

So it brings me to wonder, what do I need to do with this time? It occurs to me that for every wasteful night in front of the television feeling exhausted or helpless, I could have been doing anything more productive. I could have done yoga to feel less tired, or walked the dog. I could have been working towards important goals or at least discovering which goals are important for me. I begin to wonder, do I need TV at all. I can watch the two shows I like on the computer if I must. How much money would we save?

The real issue at hand, well there are two, is our plan of action for financial freedom and the distractions therein that threaten this goal. So this is the year where we hope to see gains from our downsize. Enough to dig out of the mess we created. It's not pretty and there is no quick fix. So month one, I propose we put a dent in something. Now our rental property is also threatening to delay our denting process but I propose we take it in stride, baby steps. It took years to make the mess, it'll take years to clean it up. There's a storm coming but this time I vow to be the one causing it.

You can't just simplify your space.

Sometimes the first step feels like the biggest. You may think you only have one step left but inevitably in life, there is always one more step. So where do I go from here? The realization that living "smaller" is easier tends to bleed into other outlets in your life. And although the benefits of such have not come on fast and furious they are starting to poke their head up here and there.

But now I want more, now that I have given up and and given away I realize that there is so much more I can do to simplify our life. I want to pay for less, I want to eat less junk, I want to have less obligations. The only "more" I want is Freedom. It is not enough to simplify your space.

What does a simple life look like? I think it is different for everyone. Defining this for me and my family will become a new part of my journey.