Who Are You?

Thinking of many things lately like Hurricane Sandy, the clutter in my basement, stress levels, the need for "more", and the holidays.

All of these things lead me to think about who would I be if I had nothing? What if a natural disaster took it all away? What if I was not lucky to live in the house I live in with all the gadgets and toys? Would I still be the same person? Or would I be something different?

I have been on a weekly challenge to get rid of at least one garbage bag of stuff from my basement. I have a lot of stuff. Books, papers, cds, magazines, etc. My goal is to declutter my life. I started strong, but each week is more and more difficult. I am not sure why as 80% of it are things I never touch or use. The need to have stuff is so strong it is hard to let go.

We live in a society today where we are judged by what we own. Not by the path and the journey it took for us to get to that point, but the materialistic things we can show. We work hard at our jobs or on the weekends to get what we want. In the end who really cares? Why don't we value the hard work, dedication, and fighting spirit to do what it takes to get what we want? Those skills are far more valuable than the item themselves.

I sometimes think people spend all their time accumulating things to hide the fact that they don't like themselves. This weekend I sat under my oak tree and just played with Ava and Aiden. I really wanted to get the leaves done and move on to other "important" things on the to do list. Instead of getting mad about the fact that Aiden wanted to kick the bags and Ava wanted to be held I stopped myself and just enjoyed the moment. What is more important - raking the leaves or hanging with my kids that hopefully leave them with memories of a dad who was involved and caring?

So many times I get frustrated about so many people always living a life of stress. Amanda has heard this rant a lot lately. Why live life so stressed about such non important things? Life is too short to not enjoy. Take a deep breath and ask yourself if what you are stressing about is really that important. I am not suggesting we never stress or never care, but don't overlook the great things in life and require no money or stress.

I have much to learn myself. I am in the process of eliminating material goods to just the essentials which I know are a few key books, my tri gear, and some keepsakes. To get to this point will require some major mental obstacles. I will get there, but I know the less I have the more happy I will be as I focus on important things in life like friends, family, and myself.

I challenge you to think about who you are. Are you happy with yourself? What can you do to live a less stressed, cluttered life of materialistic goods that you use to define yourself. Let your actions and yourself be who you are, not the car you drive and the size of your house.