Sustainable Happiness

I've been thinking a lot about the minimalist lifestyle and why BIGGER is better in our society. I really don't know why. I grew up in a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, a dining room, a living room, a den, and a family room. It was over 2000 sq ft and the only people who lived there were my mom, my sister, and me. My husband grew up in large houses as well as he traveled all over the world with his family.
I always had everything I needed or wanted. Christmas was always a big deal with lots of gifts from my mom and my grandparents. I had lots of toys I never played with. Then, I moved in with a roommate while I was in college. We rented a little 800 sq ft house, okay... it was 760 sq ft. I was rounding up. When I got married, my husband and I continued renting this same house.

Our less than 800 sq ft home we rented. Isn't it cute?

Finally, we bought a house. It was bigger and better and a whopping 1000 sq ft!!! haha! Over the years we had two children and accumulated quite a lot of stuff. The house that seemed so large at the beginning began to feel quite small. The children were sharing a little 10x11 bedroom and all four of us were sharing a bathroom.

I don't know why I keep using past tense. We still are doing all of the above. The difference is that we are trying to get rid of the stuff of enjoy the things that actually matter. I've been reading and researching becoming a minimalist for the past few months. I ran across this article. I want to have my family find sustainable happiness instead of being like the majority of Americans and think that everything should be super sized. So, my challenge for myself will be to take a picture of something that will help me to attain sustainable happiness on my Instagram account. I am really excited about this challenge. I'll use the hashtag #sustainablehappiness Feel free to join me!! :) It could be fun!

So, on my journey to find sustainable happiness I will be searching for things that bring real joy into my life and I will be minimizing all of our stuff to just what we need. I'll keep you updated on my journey. :)