Lifestyle

Recent conversations with my sisters stimulated reflection about lifestyle. Two years ago, my journey began with an intent to dramatically and irreversibly altering my lifestyle. I’ve achieved this goal; however, until now, I hadn’t given much thought to how dramatically different my new lifestyle is from that of my family, or for that matter, others. Change can be somewhat disconcerting for family and friends; imagine seeing someone you haven’t been in contact with for a year or so only to discover the person doesn’t remotely resemble your memory. 

My previous western lifestyle was pretty typical of the time period; grew up in a stable, two parent home, followed by 20 years of formal education, followed by a 30+ year professional career, and including marriage, a child, and lots of material possessions. I lived in traditional western homes for extended periods - first with my parents and later with my family or on my own. I spent much of my life dwelling in the past, worrying about the future, comparing myself to others, and striving for everything I thought I lacked. Looking back on this lifestyle, its easy to see why I was searching for material happiness. And its understandable that my sisters (and others) might view my current lifestyle, of living in the present, as strange. I have no regrets and to be clear, I’m not saying my new lifestyle is better compared to my previous lifestyle or better than anyone else’s lifestyle. It just is.

One aspect of my new lifestyle that worries my sisters is ridding myself of most of my worldly possessions. Their reaction is understandable; but, my previous zealous pursuit of material happiness never resulted in the happiness I now feel in retirement with significantly fewer possessions.

Lifestyle is a choice. This simple statement might elicit a “Duh!” from many readers, and maybe I’m slow:), but its only recently that I’ve actively chosen how to live - liberating!