I need to be honest with you.

I am writing this out of fear. I am about to begin a journey/process that I have been contemplating doing for some time and I need to sell my family on it. Maybe they will read this and that can start the conversation. If not, it will be one that I begin having in the next week.

There are four people who do not know me and one who does that I blame this on. First, Josh and Ryan who write the fabulous blog “The Minimalist”, then there is Leo from “Zen Habits” and Joshua from “Becoming Minimalist”!

Lastly, is my friend Melissa who continually feeds and challenges me. She feeds me with many wonderful travel books that pulls my mind to places and faces I wish to see before I die. She challenges me with the success she is having in her own journey toward minimalism.

You guys are wrecking me!

I have been growing ever frustrated with my life for quite some time now. Not from a family standpoint, this is wonderful. From the standpoint of what is required for me to sustain my current state I am continually exhausted mentally and financially.

I am at a tipping point in life. I have a successful 35 year corporate career and make good money. I co-founded Biker Chaplain, a non-profit focused on enabling ministries through training and support. I have been a published freelance writer for over twenty years. I have a solid 33 year marriage, one child off at A&M and another about to join the Navy.

I am at a tipping point because all of these responsibilities are both a blessing and a curse. They are the things I have worked for diligently throughout my adult life. Many of them bring me great joy. However, they are a weight which I find harder and harder to bear.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not having a midlife crisis (ok, maybe I am, but I started that at 39, so it can no longer be called a crisis – it’s more of a lifestyle). I have no plans to run off and leave my family. I am not about to quit my job, the ministry or stop writing.

However, something has to change and as the wonderful Minimalist sites above all talk about and my friend is living proof of; it has to start with me being willing to change. But Minimalism is not exactly what I am after. Yes, I do want to minimize the clutter I have, but to me this manifest in another word;

Simplicity

I want to look at all of the facets of my life and find ways to simplify it all so that I can live a more purpose filled life. When you are busy with the complication of fifty years of building a life, you must simplify so that you can focus upon your true purpose and begin to live deliberately.

In less than a week I will be going on vacation for the Christmas holidays. I am taking a week and a half. The first half will be the typical Christmas celebrations. The week after will be my turning point. I wish to simplify everything and I am noting it here to make it real.

Stuff (St)- I have, in the last six months, been half-heartedly doing little things to get rid of some of the clutter. However, it has not resulted in the desire that is an ember in my heart. I want to be done with anything and everything I have not touched in the last year. I want to be shed of it all!

Electronic Clutter (Ec) – I have almost stopped reading my personal email. My friends can tell you that I often go weeks before responding. First, because my work email is overwhelming. Second, because I have important documents spread across at least four devices (phone, tablet, laptop and desktop). They are each tools for different parts of my trade(s). My life is lived far too electronically. I have become a slave to my devices. This is the part that I am most concerned with figuring out how to minimize. My electronic footprint is quite large and complicated. I am going to make it smaller!

Money (Mo) – I want to get control of what I feel is a weekly shoveling of cash out the front door. Yes, this is an expensive time in my life. However, I don’t think it has to be what it has been. Money has always been a means to an end for me. I have never taken an active role in really making a point to watch where it all goes. The weeks roll by and I just make payments … to bloody everyone! And it’s not like I have a lot of unnecessary debt. We don’t. However, our bills are just too much and can be honed down considerably. I am going to do a wholescale reduction in what we use/pay for!

Slowing Down (Sd)– I have ceased to savor life. It is passing by me so quickly that I do not get to enjoy moments of solitude. I used to do this frequently. Some of my fondest memories of life in Texas are sitting listening to the Cicadas song on a hot afternoon as the sun sets. Riding some back road and savoring the many sights and sounds from the road as I ride to I know not where because I have no planned destination. Sipping a cup of coffee on my back porch and listening to the water run down the waterfall into the pool on a cool fall morning. I want to savor life!

Time (Ti) – I have lost my ability to manage my time. I find myself stumbling through life going to work, getting home, watching the tube, going to events and really feeling disoriented by it all. This is what happens when you let life happen to you and you are not actively managing what you are doing. You never have time because you are not managing your time. I am taking my life back!

Relationships (Re) – Aside from my immediate family, I am a professed “bad” when it comes to relationships. I do not maintain them well and as such many fall into disrepair. This is no one’s fault but my own. When you are not taking time for yourself you rarely have time for others. I will make time for my friends and foster my relationships!

Myself (My)– I am not unhealthy, but I am not healthy. I need to lose 20 pounds (ok, maybe 25 … or 30). My feet are wrecked and need to be checked out. I have a fear of dentist … let’s just leave it at that. I am moving quickly up on year three without a physical. I will take steps to manage my health by working out regularly, eating better and seeing … a few doctors!

Now you see why I said I was writing this out of fear. That’s a lot of stuff that I need to do! But I must start if I ever hope to improve. I must select a short list of things to accomplish and make habits. So in that vein, I am taking the Breaking Bad approach (no not selling meth! Use of the periodic table);

• St – I will clean out, box up and either sell or give away anything I have not touched in a year over the holiday.
• Ec – I will consolidate down to a manageable number of devices and places I keep stuff and limit the amount I keep.
• Mo – I will go through all of our cost, credit cards and limit it to necessary spending.
• Sd – I will make time to sit quietly and take a few moments for myself each day and contemplate both my purpose and how to live more deliberately.
• Ti – I will plan and make a conscious effort to dedicate time to what is important to my purpose.
• Re – I will make a point to reach out to my friends on a regular basis and schedule time with them to catch up.
• My – I will watch my eating, plan a simple workout or walk and make appointments to address the few medical issues I have and get a physical.

So there it is. My early 2015 Simplicity Plan – The journey toward Purpose and a Deliberate Life!

Now I just have to convince the wife.