start thinking about getting out of the rat race

Think about your daily thoughts and actions. Most of us just try to keep up with all that is going on daily. There simply isn't enough hours in the day to get everything done,, or is there?

Work schedule
Kids schedule
House work
Errands
Visiting people
Church
Cooking

I know there is more, but we will start with this.

Work schedule - what are we working for? To accumulate more things, constantly changing what we wear to keep up with latest fashions or what we purchase to keep up with the latest technology, to keep up with the latest home fashions, or worse yet, to keep up with The Jones.

If you think about it, none of this matters when it comes right down to it.

If you truly want to simplify your life de-clutter some of your things you no longer use and then be very careful to not re-accumulate the empty spaces. Really, things that you need are probably monthly or weekly products. Don't accumulate material items, build your empire to get to Heaven. This will get rid of the reason to work to accumulate things.

Constantly changing what we wear to keep up with the latest fashions. We are a family of 5. Our yearly cost on clothes for 5 people is, on average, $100. How can that be? We always purchase clothes at second hand stores. We tend to wear plain clothes and usually a neutral or dark color. I couldn't tell you what the latest fashion is, so that isn't even an issue.

Purchases to stay up to date with technology:  Our dvd player is probably eight years old. It still works so there is no need to get a new one. We don't have a DDR - tv just isn't that important to us. The DVD's we own are usually used or we get them on sale. Do we see technology we would like? Of course! But, we only replace the existing technology we have, we do not accumulate more.

To keep up with the Jones,, I have always wondered where this saying came from! Anyway, one of the commandments of the Bible states you won't covet the neighbor. Most people take this in a physical sense. In actuality, this includes material possessions. Since I try to honor the commandments, I am happy our neighbors have nice things, but in all honesty, I never seem to want what they have. Or worse yet, stop trying to outdo your neighbor. America seems to be obsessed with outdoing each other as far as material possessions go.

We live in a society who puts material possessions above our fellow neighbor. I can't help but wonder if we put our neighbors welfare before their material possessions,, how different would our world be?