Relaxation and Restoration... Ahhhhhh...

I am on vacation! I am up in the mountains in a little cabin with lush forested greenery all around me. Ahhhhhh... I can breath again... Just beyond me is a sparkling lake that meanders around much of this area, and all of this is surrounded by picture postcard mountain ranges. And with all this I can still get internet and phone service... this must be heaven!

Speaking of heaven, I have a copy of the book "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn with me. Several people have told me that reading it has been life changing. I also have an excellent book about writing successful ebooks. Today and tomorrow, that is the central focus of my vacation: reading, writing and relaxing! I do plan to amble around here a bit this morning and then basically read and relax in this quite comfortable cedar wood rocking chair with the awe-inspiring scenic views surrounding me. No Disney World or Dolly World's needed. The big theme parks and man made excitement definitely have their enjoyment factors when one is in that frame of mind. (I have been to both in recent years {when my son was younger} and enjoyed them.) But this... relaxing here in the mountains in a simple little cabin surrounded by such perfect beauty that I can't help but deep down smile, this is like "coming home" for me. It feels right to be here. I can think and breath in such an easy unencumbered way. This is where I want to end up, not only in this and other scenic and ambience rich areas, but in this state of being.

Enough of my day dreaming. It's currently 10 AM and since I didn't have to get up at 5:30 AM to get myself together and fight the metro traffic to go to work today, I think I will get myself together and meander around the area for a bit. I'm up for taking in the sights and sounds of a waterfall about now. Ahhhhhhhh.... OK I admit it is hard for me to quit taking those deep satisfying breaths... I do love this. Maybe this is all just "on loan" to me for a while (I have to go back to work next week after all) but it reminds me of who I really am and what makes me feel alive and well. I have been moving at such a pace for so long now and so much of my life has been work related, that I essentially forgot what this feels like. This is why so many people are embracing simpler lifestyles. For me, this freedom and restoration already taking place in me is healing. Ahhhhhhh.....

The Economy From A Close-Up View

I was just reading an RV Newsletter and one of the featured reports was about the long-time owner of a large multi-location RV dealership in CA. Of his 8 locations, 2 closed earlier this year and he is currently liquidating all his inventory to close the final 6. Prior to that story, I read one about a number of primarily large motorhome manufacturers that are closing their doors and the effect that will have on current owner's warranties. It is everywhere... the reports pour in... Many companies that up to the second half of last year were strong and profitable, now have layed off half of their staff in the last few months and currently are barely hanging on. Many of these business owners that have been in business for many years are now just hoping to make it through the end of the year without having to close down!

I sit here on a Saturday morning reading my online newsletter and once again am stunned by the broad scope of the declining economy. I am the manager of a southern-based, national professional pre-tax planning firm. We have a marketing department to invite business owners to receive a free consultation regarding how utilizing the IRS tax law code through pre-tax planning will greatly benefit them and their business. The truth is that in this down economy it can help people tremendously as it not only saves them tax dollars but increases their net worth. Whoops... got side-tracked lol... So the point was that we call on hundreds of business owners every week to offer our complimentary consultation and information What we have found is that in the last quarter of 2007 and ongoing this year, many businesses that formerly were very strong and profitable are barely hanging on right now. Many of them have layed off up to 90% of their employees. We hear the stories every day. It is staggering... business that formerly were paying over $300,000 in annual federal income taxes, now their profits down by 75% or more. We hear the same stories often from small companies to very large companies... I continue to be stunned by how wide spread and devastating it is across the United States. Although mortgage lenders, real estate, title companies and builders are typically the hardest hit, it has affected all kinds of businesses regardless of size or type. It is very sad and disconcerting to see so many people hurting and struggling to keep the companies going that they have invested themselves into, most often for many years.

It has hurt us as a company as well. Because even though the fact is that our services would help these companies, we can't help them unless the remain a company with a strong enough anchor to keep going (paying at least $40,000 in annual federal income taxes). As an adult that has a close-up view to the economy, I have never seen anything like it... It is truly sobering.

Altough I believe the economy will become much stronger within the next year, I am personally preparing for whatever may come. I believe in NOT living in the biggest home that I can sorta kinda afford and/or driving a vehicle I can barely afford to insure, much less pay the monthly payments on. I say that because I am surrounded by people who do just that. Most of the people where I work (and others I know as well) pay far more for rent or a mortgage than I do. I choose to rent a portion of a home (bedroom and bath with run of the home) in a nice community for 1/2 of what it would cost me to rent an apartment. I drive a 97 GMC Safari van and keep it maintained instead of making payments on a newer vehicle. That alone helps me to save monies and have the ability to give when many are struggling just to keep their monthly bills paid. I think we have gotten to a point as a society that we are in a kind of stupor about what we really need. I know far more people that cry and struggle and stress to pay the mortgages on their big homes and loans on their late model vehicles than those who don't. With gas prices astronomical and food costs way up, it is a tough pendelum to live by! Jobs keep going down - costs of living continue to rise!

In the USA the norm has been to have newer, bigger or multiple for so many years. Suddenly, there has been a screeching halt for many... it had to happen at some point... it is pretty devastating to see so many people hurting. There are ways to reduce living expenses dramatically but many people either don't know how to or have been so far removed from that thinking that they just keep trying to maintain what they once barely could and now wasting what resources they have to try and keep their world as it was, for a while longer.

I believe that some of the unconventional and not widely understood ways of living that also reduce living costs greatly is more important now to consider that any time in my 50 years. Particularly a single or couple can easily save major monies living part or full time in a small RV or van or doing a number of other things to greatly reduce expenses. Maybe even more of the mainstream will begin to see the beauty and enjoyment of a simpler less encumbered lifestyle. I personally enjoy my laptop, a nice personal DVD/CD player and a small flat screened TV as well as my beloved Kindle (Amazon.com reading device)... I am not without my comforts... But I can afford the few choices I make because I am not paying for the big house and late model car. I love the freedom that preparing for an even simpler life (vandwelling) allows me. I always know that no matter what happens I will have a roof over my head and am developing alternative ways to make enough income to subsidize my minimal needs.

I recently have seen several news stories about people who were "forced" to leave their homes and live in their motor homes or vans. The reporters refer to them many times as homeless... no they aren't... they just have a smaller, simpler home! There will always be seasons that incur emergencies, tough times and/or difficulties in life. Whether we choose to live simply long term or intermittenly, in most cases we can drastically reduce our living costs. Fruther, it is when we choose to own our lives and make the best of our situations whether we choose it or it is thrust on us that defines the difference between a victim mindset and a visionary...

Blessings, Brenda of www.lordandcurtiss.ws

Who am I & What is "Simply What Matters All About?"

First: I am currently entrenched once again in a very demanding management position. My job demands all of me and that's a good thing in many ways. I am satisfied that I do my job well and believe that every once in a while I do make a difference there. I try to mentor a couple of the younger managers to turn things over to when the time is right to do so. I have been on the all encompassing fast pace again for a while and am preparing to simplify my life greatly within the next year. For me that means making preparations in a number of ways including my health and fitness (or lack there of at present), saving as much as I can without reducing giving or doing the things I feel God led to do (I don't want to be self serving or without gratitude or forget Who put me in this position in the first place!) and lastly I am building my passion online and endeavoring to support myself by sharing things I feel enhance lives. Choices... Wow they are so important. I don't always make the right one myself, but I keep moving forward and I draw on God and His direction as I know and am quite thankful to say that I have learned that nothing begins and ends with me! HE is the component that makes it all work out as it should... I just have to put my hand to it and do my best to follow after what is authentically who and what I am and am responsible for. I am not the average woman who believes choices need to be based upon what society dictates. I never have really... March to a different drummer as they say. But I have found there are others like me out there... Maybe you here reading my blog... This blog is about living authentically, making choices that simply matter for me and what I believe I am called to be and do. Sometimes that just may mean what feels right coupled with an authentic confirmation of the paths I am to walk... What I know to be true deep within me. The following is an excerpt taken from my website: www.LordandCurtiss.ws just to give you a birds eye view of my "outside the societal box" thinking and a bit about me in this journey I am on...

I am a 50 year young, God loving divorced mom of one adult son. I have spent most of my life working far more hours than I should. I am very responsible and have always worked myself to the ultimate (& at times ridiculous) to build other people's businesses... And I have been pretty successful at it! At the same time, most of my life I have been a single parent, so though I made a decent income compared to many women in my shoes, living on one income and paying all the bills solo, I didn't have anything extra for savings. Often I felt like I worked from can 'til can't, and the only thing that kept me going was the ongoing motivation to provide a good home and environment for my then "growing up" son. I have gotten burnt out from time to time amidst the mad crazy pace of management and business life, but I've always ended back in the rat race due to the responsibilities and demands of being a single mom for the most part. Since my son is now grown and a man on his own, after my current corporate management "gig" is over (I plan to make that happen before my next birthday) I will then fulltime and travel using my van as a home base while supporting myself primarily through my online businesses, occasional consulting and speaking engagements, and my true passion: writing.

How did I come to discover this free (& honest) nomadic gypsy spirit that lives inside of me? First, I always have been drawn to small spaces inside, and wide open scenic vistas outside; love nature, love scenic beauty, love exploring, love uniqueness and discovery of all kinds. I loved every movie I saw with the actors living in a well kept RV or travel trailer actually, although I don't remember the names of the movies, those are the "clips" that live in my head: an older woman with a bird on her shoulder sitting at the table of the nice travel trailer she lived in since her husband died, she was happy and at peace though others didn't understand her choices. Another movie I remember vividly was about 2 women who traveled the country heading to Canada (with breathtaking footage along the way). An unhappy waitress who joins them along the way has a very unique personalized (too pink and frilly for me but cool nevertheless) travel trailer that she just gives away without thought when she meets the "man of her dreams". (What????? Don't give that away!!! What was she thinking???) As long as I can remember I have been drawn to the gypsy life, from the travels to the ornate cozy gypsy wagons, travel trailers, and small RVs and campers to the biggest perk of all: Independence and Freedom to live life outside the "societal box".

Thanks for visiting my blog. Please feel free to pop back in as there is much more to come... I hope to get to know others and get feedback from both those who share my passions and even from those who may think I'm a bit touched... :) That's OK, we each have our own path to walk and mine does not take away from yours and yours does not take away from mine. So lets immerse ourselves into life, our lives and make the choices based upon: "Simply What Matters".