giving thanks

I've been reading a blog I'd like to recommend: No Impact Man

It's a thoughtful, intelligent, well-written blog that focuses on the environmental impact of our choices. This is not a doom and gloom diatribe, but an optimistic experiment in "eco-effective" living.
(And there are links galore to other informative blogs).

I've always lived small and simple. It's a deliberate lifestyle choice.

My family, bless them, have long felt sorry for 'poor Carol' and hoped that maybe someday I would have a bigger house and a newer car and more fashionable clothes to wear. It embarrasses them that I shop in thrift stores and puzzles them that I'm quite content with my low consumption lifestyle.

But, living simply is not about being frugal just to save a dime.
And, for me anyway, it's not about saving the planet. I'm not militant about it, not trying to prove anything, not aiming for sainthood.

It's just that I discovered long ago that living with less felt more abundant and satisfying than living with a long list of wants and desires for more, more, more.

One of my favorite quotes by Lao Tzu is:
"He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough."

I'm so grateful that I've always had enough.