A Simple Life (Part 1)

We live in a fast-paced world full of complicated, and often conflicting choices.  Every day we make decision that may appear to be unimportant, but which can impact our lives long-term. 

Believe it or not, this is nothing new.  For instance, in 1845, author Henry David Thoreau became disenchanted with the life he felt society expected him to live.  He didn’t see the sense in spending his time working a job in order to accumulate material possessions.  Instead, he chose to forego the material possessions and spend his time communing with nature and living a simple life rather than spending his time working a job.

In order to live life the way he thought it should be lived, Thoreau moved into a small cabin on the edge of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts.  He did not necessarily want to isolate himself from the world.  In fact, his cabin was just a couple of miles outside of Concord and he had frequent visits from friends and family.  What he did want to accomplish was to live a more simple and self-sufficient life that was short on material possessions, and long on spirituality, happiness, and self-fulfillment.

Thoreau documented his life in the woods in his book Walden.  He started the book with these words:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.  I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.

Today, we still pay lip service to Thoreau’s call for simplicity, but the fact is, the pressure to keep up with the Joneses is more powerful than ever.  From our earliest years, we are brainwashed to want more and nicer, whether it’s more video games, a nicer car or a bigger house. 

Dan Miller from 48Days.com compared Thoreau’s philosophy of simple living  to the expectations new college graduates have today:

This does not describe the typical journey of a college graduate today.  Rather, the expectation is an immediate six figure income and the lifestyle that accompanies “success.” We live in a society that embraces indulgent consumption as a visible status symbol.  The fabulous house tells everyone you have arrived, even if it takes two incomes and being trapped in an unfulfilling job to make it work.  The house then sets the expectations for the country club membership, private schools for the children and attendance at the right social events.  We work longer hours to pay for the new “stuff” and then have less time to enjoy it.  We plead with God to bless us, but the only relief from the self-imposed pressure would be to win the lottery.

Miller is correct.  More than ever, we are a society with an entitlement attitude.  We deserve the biggest house we can afford, the fanciest car we can get a loan for, and the nicest vacation our credit cards will allow.  But in order to live this privileged life we feel we deserve, we are going deep into debt and mortgaging our future.  We are complicating our lives and sentencing ourselves to spending our time working a job in order to make the interest payments on the debt.  This is exactly the type of lifestyle Thoreau set out to avoid.

But how do we get free of this type of burdensome existence?  I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to wanting more, better, bigger.  In fact, I have lived most of my life with the philosophy that, you don’t know how long your life will last, so do whatever you want to do now, while you have the time and ability.  Worry about the bills tomorrow.  I admit, this isn’t the most fiscally responsible philosophy, but as someone who has had to face cancer twice, I don’t believe in putting off happiness until “someday.”

This last point is something I am struggling with right now.  What exactly is happiness?  Is it going into debt today in order to enjoy what I want now, or is it delaying gratification now in favor of being able to do what I want to do in the future without having to go into debt?  Honestly, I think there is a pretty compelling argument for both points of view.

On the one hand, in order to be happy, you need to live in the present.  Nobody knows what the future holds, so you better grab all of the life you can today.  Carpe diem!  This is how I have lived most of my life.

My friend Adam Baker holds the opposite view.  He views credit as imprisoning and advocates for delayed gratification. 

Baker and his wife Courtney were living a fairly typical American lifestyle.  The were in debt and were working jobs primarily to pay their bills.  They longed to travel, but couldn’t afford to do it because of the debt they had accumulated.  When Courtney became pregnant with their daughter, the couple decided to do something about the indebted lifestyle they were living.  They sold most of their stuff, paid off their debt, and today, even while making a rather modest living, they can do what they want, when they want.  Over a relatively short time, they delayed their gratification so that they could live the type of life they wanted over the long haul.

Adam and Courtney have simplified their lives and as a result, they live a lifestyle full of freedom and happiness.  By contrast, I have lived a great life (no complaints here), but I’m still saddled with the debt I incurred from all of these good times.  In other words, to paraphrase Baker, I sold off a piece of my freedom in exchange for immediate gratification.

I’m not going to try to argue that one approach is right while the other is wrong.  Everyone needs to choose what is right for them (although I think it is important to know the pros and cons of the approach you choose).  Both approaches are designed for one thing: to make you happy. 

In part 2 of this post, I want to look at what really makes people happy.  The answer is not what you might expect.