Preconceived Notions

     Steve and I were talking the other day about some of the silly, preconceived ideas that pop into our head when we see or hear certain things.  We know that we subscribe to some unconventional ideas and know that makes us look different than most others in society.  Therefore we were wondering at some of the things, that we do, outside the norm that we think are odd at first glance when we see others doing them.

     Whenever we see someone walking along the side of the road, even on a sidewalk, we have an immediate thought.  The thought that we have is that the person is poor.  Isn't that crazy!  We walk all around town, yet, when we see others walking, we jump to that idea.  Why?  Has our society brainwashed us so much that we can't imagine choosing to walk?  Why do we think a person is poor?  Shouldn't we jump to the idea that the person walking is health conscious or frugal?

     How about kids playing in the park after school?  Our gut reaction is to think that the child is so poor that he doesn't have anything to play with at home.  When did this shift in thinking occur?  There was a time when people didn't feel the need to put up, say, a basketball goal in the driveway.  Why do that when there were plenty of goals at the park?  I wonder if my generation was so programmed about "stranger danger" that we can't let our own children out of the yard. 

     I am going to make an effort to change my thinking.  I am going to assume that people are making wise choices about their time and money.  I am not going to look at someone spending time outside, in public areas, and think they are poor or shiftless. 

     Next time you see someone doing something outside the norm, don't assume the worst.

Simply living.....not so simple to explain.

I was going to write a post on why we, as a family, feel that simply living is the way to go for us.  I wrote about a paragraph and realized that it was pooey.  I guess I just have a hard time putting into words why it makes sense to us.  When I write it down it sounds hokey and preachy.

I know that the choices we make seem strange to others.  They just don't get why we choose to walk to work most days.  They REALLY don't get why we don't spend our money on television.  They think we are mean that we don't often buy our kids soda, especially at restaurants.  They find it odd that we buy 98% of our family clothing at thrift stores.  They look at me with bug-eyes when I tell them we only work two days per week by choice.  They shake their heads when I tell them what my kids get for Christmas.

I think it really comes down to the fact that I want my kids to know that they are important.  I choose them over "NEW" anything.  I want them to know that to show someone love they should spend time with them, not money on them.  I want them to know that experiences don't ever break or fade.  They stay with you forever.  You can have all the gadgets in the world but without the time to make relationships they are worthless.

I think people these days really have lost site of those ideas.  They think that the children/people will know how much they love them if they give them the latest & greatest thing.  They don't see that they have to work, away from the family, to be able to afford these things.  It becomes a vicious cycle.  Work to buy things to make up for not being there or to entertain while you work to buy things.  If people just slowed down and spent time together we would all be so much better off.

Now, please don't think that I have this mastered.  It is a total work in progress.  We have made drastic changes in our lives over the past two years and we can tell a difference.  I know that people still won't get it and that is OK.  It works for us and we'll continue to see what changes we can make to get even more simplified.  If anyone has any questions about what we have done or why we've chosen certain things PLEASE ask us.  We'd love to be able to share more with you.