Long time lurker of the blog. I've always been intrigued by the minimalist 'movement.' With 2 children, a smallish apartment, and a gut that doesn't feel good, I have to make a change in my life.
Let's get something straight, I'm not complaining. My life is great. I have an awesome wife who is my best friend. I absolutely love that woman. We don't fight. Oh, we disagree, we get frustrated, but we don't fight. But I love her. And my life is fine. I have a great job doing something I love. My children are wonderful. My 21-month old son is a pleasure, always smiling, always happy. My second son, barely over a month old now, is a charmer, and makes us smile. We are blessed with two wonderful boys. We save money, and earlier this year we dumped out a lot of our debt with interest (with the little remaining debt being mostly interest free).
So no. I can't complain. My life is great.
Which for me is the best reason to simplify and get healthy again. I'm not doing this out of need (though, that could be argued). This is the best time, with the only stress that being of my own creation of typical work stress (which mostly revolves around me doing the best job I can).
So I've come here. I honestly didn't pay attention to the forums much. I knew they existed, but I would mark articles for reading, and move on. However, I think it's important that my next steps forward be with the support of like-minded people.
I'm not looking to make fast changes. I know myself. I have bad habits that I need to eliminate and I need to develop good habits in exchange. I need to do this. And while I know I can do this, I'm worried I'll be weak and I won't.
So, what is it I'm hoping to change with my life.
0. Healthy eating. I love healthy food. It's just not something I'm used to preparing on a regular basis. McDonalds is right next to my work. I go for a walk, it's there, within easy walking distance, and handy when I forget my lunch. And making lunch, while I know is good (and I remembered today!), I tend to forget in the morning. Not forget to make it. No no, I prepare it the night before. I forget to just take it from the fridge.
1. I need to drink more water. Now this is something I've been doing for about 2 weeks now. I've been drinking water. Lots of water. I try to keep a glass next to me at all times. It's turning into my goto snack of choice. I drink that, and keep it with me if I get a craving to snack on something. I try to drink water before every meal.
2. I need to get back into cooking. I love cooking. I do the Thanksgiving dinner every year, and it's always been a success. Just between two kids, work, and a wife, it's hard. No... it's not hard. That's just an excuse. I need to focus my cooking on things that matter to me. My wife is very particular about her food. Luckily, she enjoys some good healthy dishes (and she makes some awesome salmon, which we are having tonight in fact).
But I need simple meals I can make, in bulk, that I can enjoy. I don't mind eating the same thing over and over again. It's satisfying in a way. I just need to *do* it.
3. Eliminate stuff. Here's my big admission. And yes, I'm using my real name here on the forum, and I use my real name all over the web, so it's relatively easy to find things out about me. Warts and all, I own up to my mistakes. =) But before I married, I was a hoarder. Really bad. I had stuff, though not too much (not compared to others), but I was a hoarder, and a slob. It was disgusting. Shameful. I can honestly say that I hated myself for it. And unless you've been in a situation like it, you have no idea what it's like. Never judge a hoarder. The question: how can you live like that? It's not so easily answered. It's not a choice someone makes. It just happens. And then you are lost. It's what you know. It's habit.
But I've gotten a lot better. I'm neat now. Not clutter free, but neat. I like things closed. I like things having a place. Yes, my wife helped. No, honestly, she never knew how bad it had gotten. Or if she did, she never mentioned it.
Anyways, I still have stuff. I've been careless with money. Oh, we pay our bills, have extra cash for entertainment, and we save. However, I'm still careless. My wife is, too. We aren't frivolous, but we aren't thrifty. We aren't out there buying dish dryers or breading pans, but we do buy things and probably pay to much, and don't value them like we should. The pattern of buying the promise of something, not the reality. We are consumers. Those ads you see for products? Yeah, we are the target audience.
I have too much stuff. My goal is to eliminate stuff. Eliminate stuff I don't use. Eliminate clutter that exists. Hard. I'm not sentimental. I am, however, worried about replacing things I might need. I need to eliminate that. I can't eliminate things that I actually use, but I should take advantage and replace many things with fewer things. We have 3 printers. Seriously. 3. All practically right next to one another. 2 laser printers, one is a wireless B/W with a fax machine. Another color laser. And finally, a color inkjet.
3 printers.
I have boxes of wires to various devices. I have books I've read that sit there, knowing that I will not read them again. They were great, but keeping most of these books... why? For the prestige? So people will sit in awe at my collection? Because my worth should be judged by my stuff.
Games. I have lots of board games. Board games are awesome. But I have more than I need, and rarely play many of them. They deserve better.
Movies. Okay, here is where I did good. All movies (DVD's and BluRays) go into books that get placed on the shelf. Lots of movies, little space. Organized well enough that finding a movie isn't a problem. I enjoy my movies and TV shows. They are stored properly, and stay there. We put them back. We know where to find them. YAY!
So much more. I'll eventually take pictures of all of this so you can see.
4. I need to improve my scheduling. I need to unclutter my life and how I live it. My schedule, my habits, my way of thinking. I have bad habits that hurt me. I used to bite my nails. I actually did this for some 20+ years. For as long as I can remember, in fact. One day, I just decided to stop. I occasionally chew at them, but I can stop. And it is occasionally. I can go months without touching them.
I just need to improve my daily habits. This goes along with everything else.
Anyways, I've just realized how much I've been typing. It's far too long for a forum post, but I tend to ramble. If you've made it this far, I'm sorry. =)
What I really wanted to say was: Hi. My name is Jason Lotito. I want to unclutter my life.
