living simply

I've been working my way through Henry David Thoreau's Walden, and it is this paragraphs in his conclusion that I am taking away from it. It is also what has inspired me to try and live a simpler, fuller life.

"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." 

-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

I know, it's a mouthful! But what it boils down to, for me at least, is that as you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. I.E. life doesn't have to be complicate. We make it that way, or at least I do. I give myself extra things to stress about and I clutter the day-to-day with worries, material things, and unnecessary stressors that make my life complicated. And all of these things jumble my priorities. So...it's time for a refocus! I've got to amp up the quality of my existence, and simplify my life.

I know this is going to be a challenge, but I welcome it! And I know it's going to take a while to get to where I want to be. I just need to remember to focus on my goals. I hope that living simply will...

• Put my priorities in focus. 
• Decrease stress. 
• Increase productivity where it counts. 
• Increase the quality of my life, and my relationship with my husband.