what little things make you feel like you are achieving "Simple Living"?

[freshstart]

It's 3 am and I'm wide awake but it is so peaceful. Two hounds snuffling snores. A big glass of ice water and 2 of not the best ever, but close, clementines that were on sale. I will crack open a new library book and probably fall asleep not too far in, which is fine because in the morning, I will not remember the book, nor the perfect clementines. I will remember the dogs sweetly sleeping and the peace settled over the house. I will try to remember that I was not awakened by worries and panic about money or the future and I will try my hardest not to think about stressors now.

I have a long way to go to actually have a simple life, I struggle to be anything like the hard core members on here, but sometimes I get a sliver, a glimpse of what it is like and it's so worth it. Book, dogs, clementines and I feel wealthy, I have what I need and want.

[Ultralight]

In the spring on the first day I take my canoe out and go fishing for crappie, I think: This is what it is all about!

[Williamsmith]

I went hunting with a friend yesterday afternoon. Basically, I drive to a deer haven of mixed hardwoods and bean and corn fields where I have several tree stands to choose from. I walk slowly in and climb into a stand. My friend does the same. If nothing is moving, my friend will get down and slowly walk a giant circle hoping to encourage a few deer to get up from their beds.

It is peaceful. The sun sets gracefully. Just an orange ball on the horizon. Their is no artificial sounds of cars or machines in the distance. I am surrounded by quietness. It is cold enough that My toes or beginning to get achey. But the rest of me in toasty warm. The wind is gently out of the south east and comes in over my shoulder.

A downy woodpecker seeks out a few larva under the bark of a nearby beech tree. A few black capped chickadees flit around me. One lands briefly on the barrel of my muzzleloader. I look into his eye and he/she looks back into mine.
I reach for a bag of black oil sunflower seeds I keep in my pocket for just these occasions. This scares the little bird away but I put the seeds in a fork of the tree I am in. I hope he finds the seeds later. I hope he remembers who put them there.

I keep an eye out for movement but nothing comes by. I am glad in a way. My gun would break the silence in a harsh explosion. Blue smoke would fill the air. A living thing would cease to live. I know they desperately cling to life as much as I do but it is a feeling the hunter must get over. The hunter must in the end respectfully harvest what he hunts. I still always feel a moment of sadness before thankfulness.

Today, I got down from my stand at dusk. I crunched my way back to the truck. I kept the peace and I enjoyed the peace.

[Ultralight]

I went hunting with a friend yesterday afternoon. Basically, I drive to a deer haven of mixed hardwoods and bean and corn fields where I have several tree stands to choose from. I walk slowly in and climb into a stand. My friend does the same. If nothing is moving, my friend will get down and slowly walk a giant circle hoping to encourage a few deer to get up from their beds.

It is peaceful. The sun sets gracefully. Just an orange ball on the horizon. Their is no artificial sounds of cars or machines in the distance. I am surrounded by quietness. It is cold enough that My toes or beginning to get achey. But the rest of me in toasty warm. The wind is gently out of the south east and comes in over my shoulder.

A downy woodpecker seeks out a few larva under the bark of a nearby beech tree. A few black capped chickadees flit around me. One lands briefly on the barrel of my muzzleloader. I look into his eye and he/she looks back into mine.
I reach for a bag of black oil sunflower seeds I keep in my pocket for just these occasions. This scares the little bird away but I put the seeds in a fork of the tree I am in. I hope he finds the seeds later. I hope he remembers who put them there.

I keep an eye out for movement but nothing comes by. I am glad in a way. My gun would break the silence in a harsh explosion. Blue smoke would fill the air. A living thing would cease to live. I know they desperately cling to life as much as I do but it is a feeling the hunter must get over. The hunter must in the end respectfully harvest what he hunts. I still always feel a moment of sadness before thankfulness.

Today, I got down from my stand at dusk. I crunched my way back to the truck. I kept the peace and I enjoyed the peace.

Perfect! Amazing!

[lessisbest]

I get up at 3 a.m. every day and I love the hour before hubby gets up at 4 a.m. so I can reflect, and make notes of things I want to accomplish for the day. Check what happened in the world while I slept (like earthquakes last night), and check the obituaries to see who made the list. It's one of the best times of the day for me. I wait for the train to whistle in the distance, and that's one of my favorite sounds.

Another sign of "simple living" is each meal made at home because of well-planned and executed home food storage, as well as planning our meals each day. Spending less money than the average family, and eating wholesome healthy foods, is a great sign of "simple living" in my books. In other words, I don't need an app on my phone to direct me to the nearest fast food joint!

[JaneV2.0]

I love that I can sleep and wake when I want, and that I don't have to fight my way through traffic to get to a job I actively dislike. If nothing else in my life were simple, that would be worth it.

[kib]

I'm pretty boring. I just find myself very pleased and 'simple' when I can have a day where everything just falls in line without extreme stress, no big surprises, no chaos, because it's been set up to flow that way. Enough time to do a bit of what I enjoy, enough time to get the work done without having it be a burden. I love it when my routine is just complex enough that I'm "on top of things" without a lot of effort.

[pinkytoe]

I love that I can sleep and wake when I want, and that I don't have to fight my way through traffic to get to a job I actively dislike.

I am so looking forward to a simple retired life. It makes me smile just to think about it.

[JaneV2.0]

I am so looking forward to a simple retired life. It makes me smile just to think about it.

It never gets old.

[SteveinMN]

It never gets old.

Amen!

I think for me it's the moments when I remember it does not have to be the way it was all my life. I can hear the weather forecast and be happy I don't have to cringe upon hearing that I'll have to drive on icy roads or during the height of the rainstorm to a job I disliked.

At other times, it's a feeling of accomplishment. At my job, the work was never done and even getting toward the end was chaotic -- and once you got there, someone almost always asked why it took so long or so much effort. Now I can look at a kitchen in which everything that's supposed to be is put away. Or at a lawn that's mowed and trimmed. Sure, the kitchen will get messy again and the lawn will need cutting in several days. But for now, it's great and it's done and I don't have to excuse my lack of time or my exhaustion.