This post is written as part of Ruth Soukup’s Secret 13 Blog Tour, which I am SO excited to be a part of along with many other inspiring bloggers. To learn more about the blog tour and join us, click HERE.
The week between Christmas and New Years is always a time when I reflect on the past year, my relationships and myself as a person. Who I am. Who I want to be and what is truly important in my life. I recently took some time to read an inspiring book about life, and how living the “Good Life” can actually be achieved…if we really want it! If you are ready to start the New Year with an open mind and heart, you too can find the 12 Secrets of the Good Life and learn how to embrace those secrets to make your Good Life a reality!
I have been following Ruth Soukup’s blog, Living Well Spending Less for quite some time. She has an amazing outlook on life and she has inspired me to take a closer look at many aspects of my own. As a wife and mother, I know that life gets busy. It can be tiring, frustrating, exhausting and sometimes completely unorganized. There have been times when I have felt like every aspect of my life was out of control and I was just searching for some balance.
Ruth’s NEW Book, Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life touches on these truths in our lives today. She talks about our constant need for things and how those material things can get in the way of living our life with purpose and meaning. In this book, Ruth shares her personal thoughts and feelings on how she made the decision to change her way of living. She shares practical and simple ways that will help you get your life back on track. You will learn how to find your strengths, embrace them and learn to live your life happily with a system that works for you and your family.
Many times throughout my life, I’ve thought, “Things will be better when ….”, or “If I only ….”. Almost as if happiness was dependent upon something else, like purchasing something else, or doing something else with my life would get me to happiness. I think it’s easy to think of “The Good Life” like a fairy tale. We work hard to get the things we think are important like a big house, a nicer car, etc., and then that’s it. It’s there. The Good Life. But then what?
Today we are overcome with so much “stuff” that most of us have completely lost track of what is truly important in our lives. It’s easy to think that things will make us happy. Something new is satisfying at first, but then what? After that new, exciting feeling wears off, we are usually searching for the next thing to make us happy. We don’t have to fall into that trap. This book will show you that you can change your mindset!
“It is not the wealth—or the stuff—that kills us; it is the wanting, the longing, the absolutely insatiable desire for it that eventually takes over our hearts and minds, leaving room for little else. Whether or not we can afford it is totally irrelevant. What matters is the desire of our heart. Regardless of the never-quite-enough message society wants to give us, a life consumed by always wanting more is not the Good Life.” – Ruth Soukup
When I was little we didn’t have a lot of things. I did had a loving childhood though. We always had the basics, but nothing really extravagant or a lot of “extras” just because. When I take a look back, the things that stand out the most to me are not things at all. They are moments. Moments when someone else’s love or kindness touched my life. Moments of simple things like playing at the playground, bedtime stories and a true sense of belonging.
I want my children to feel that. I want my children, even at their age, to learn from my husband and I. How we live our life and the gratitude we show for the important things is going to be observed everyday by our children. I want to encourage and inspire our children to live their lives with meaning and purpose while being content.
In Chapter 2, Contentment is a Choice (my favorite chapter), Ruth talks about the importance of what you really want. I love this chapter because I always try to look at the bigger picture. If I were to die tomorrow, what did I do yesterday that was important? If I had the best clothes, the best of everything, would that matter? No. Absolutely not. What would matter is how I loved people. How I showed kindness to others and how I gave. When I do leave this life here on earth, no one is going to remember all of the “things”. They will remember who I was, what I stood for and hopefully how much they meant to me.
Ruth says true contentment will never be found by looking outward, and she’s right. You have to search within yourself. There are going to be hard times and times when I feel like giving up. I want the best for my children and our family, but it’s not always going to be easy. We’re all going to have to work hard together to get there. To live OUR Good Life.
Right now, our family is complete. My husband and I are done having children and we are now at a different stage in our life. We are no longer having children, we are raising our family. I think that’s why I’ve done so much soul searching and reflecting this past year. Our goals have changed, but staying true to the way we want to live our lives have stayed the same.
If you’ve struggled with being content, or finding balance in your life, take an afternoon or an evening and sit down with Ruth’s book. I promise you, it will make a profound difference in your life. Maybe you don’t even know where to begin? This is where. Take the time to do this for yourself. For your family. We only get this one life. Don’t you want to live it and love it?!
After reading this book, I have found my own secret to living the good life- My Secret #13, is communication. You can’t intentionally change your life without really sharing and discussing your aspirations with your loved ones. Talk to your spouse and your children. The best way to be on the same page is to communicate and take this amazing journey of Living the Good Life together.
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Discover your own secret of the Good Life in Ruth Soukup’s new book, Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life
