Simple Living - Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks - Week 19

For the 19th week of the Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge, I read Simple Living by Jose Hobday.

- Simple living is about freedom.
- Choose space rather than clutter, to choose open and generous living rather than a secure and sheltered way.
- Freedom to choose less rather than more. It's about choosing time for people and ideas and self-growth rather than for maintenance and guarding and possessing and cleaning.
- it is about poetry and dance, song and art, music and grace. It is about optimism and humor, gratitude and appreciation.
- It is a relaxed grasp on money, things, and even friends.
- Simplicity cherishes ideas and relationships.
- It doesn't cling nor try to possess things or people or relationships. Simplicity frees us within, but it frees others, too. People don't have to compliment our clothing or admire our collections. They aren't distracted from what's real.
- It makes us welcome among the wealthy and the poor alike. The poor are not offended by our dress and the rich are not threatened. This applies to clothing, housing, and transportation.
- Attending to simple living yields unsuspected abundance, joy, and freedom.
- Having things that are meaningful to us contributes to simple living.
- We have to know what matters in this life.
- The native tradition is always to seek harmony. If you have many needs and desires, harmony is not possible.
- The best way to sell ourselves is through what we believe in through our values and principles.
- Don't listen to what they say, look at how they live. That's where their beliefs are.
- Simple living requires us to take a good look at our consumer mentality, our spending mentality, and our misunderstood right to squander the gifts and good of this world for a few so that many are deprived and suffer.
- We learn to appreciate what we have.
- We gain not only material space but inner room for things that are new and exciting. We gain an uncluttered spot for something lovely and beautiful. We gain time. We have more room in our soul. Our soul feels clean and empty, swept out - uncluttered and unfettered.
- Our spirit yearns for more quality....It requires more love in our actions.
-  There's a depth, a quality, an inner smile that goes with being really present, because the ultimate wonder is that we are present to ourselves.
- Parenthood is difficult...because discipline is required - of patience, of waiting, of understanding requires extraordinary love and attention, consciousness, care, and time.
- What food do I need each day to keep me healthy?
- As we look at our basic clothing needs, we ask, "What do I really need?"
- The spiritual task is to discern between real needs and the extras. We don't need the extras.
- If you have all of your needs met, all of your helps met, most of your preferences met, and most of your luxuries met, you are not living a gospel life. You are blind to the real world, especially to the poor.