{"id":487,"date":"2014-03-17T17:01:06","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T21:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487"},"modified":"2014-03-17T17:01:06","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T21:01:06","slug":"keep-it-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487","title":{"rendered":"KEEP IT SIMPLE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/No-Cares-jpg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-488\" alt=\"No Cares jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/No-Cares-jpg-791x1024.jpg\" width=\"474\" height=\"613\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/No-Cares-jpg-791x1024.jpg 791w, https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/No-Cares-jpg-231x300.jpg 231w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a>For some baffling reason, we have gotten caught up in an insatiable need for more s<i>tuff &#8211;<\/i> from clothes, cars, houses, electronic gadgets, toys, furniture and fixtures to new hairdos, pedicures and tummy tucks. We want to possess everything imaginable and never seem to be content anymore with the basics. According to comedian George Carlin, we even need to own s<i>tuff <\/i>to put our <i>stuff<\/i> into. We like to take our s<i>tuff<\/i> with us wherever we go, and when we get there we have to buy more <i>stuff<\/i> so we can take it home to be with other<i> stuff!<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Our fascination with<i> stuff<\/i>, however, is not the problem. It is the lifestyle that we must pursue to acquire, maintain and manage our <i>stuff<\/i>.\u00a0 All of this <i>stuff<\/i> is the antithesis to a sane, balanced and purposeful life. While we tend to believe that our happiness emanates from our possessions it is, in fact, these same possessions that become the bane and curse to a joyful and meaningful life. According to Elaine St. James, <i>Wise men and women in every major culture throughout history have found that the secret to happiness is not in getting more but in wanting less.<\/i> Only when we make it our purpose to not make<i> stuff <\/i>the measure of our contentment, will we truly understand how simply beautiful (and beautifully simple) life can be lived.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" id=\"sharing-facebook-487\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=twitter\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\" id=\"sharing-twitter-487\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=linkedin\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\" id=\"sharing-linkedin-487\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=pinterest\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span>Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-stumbleupon\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-stumbleupon sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=stumbleupon\" title=\"Click to share on StumbleUpon\"><span>StumbleUpon<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-google-plus-1\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-google-plus-1 sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=google-plus-1\" title=\"Click to share on Google+\" id=\"sharing-google-487\"><span>Google<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=email\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-64841909-487-69e01af30c3c3' data-src='\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/#blog_id=64841909&amp;post_id=487&amp;origin=ourlifepurpose.com&amp;obj_id=64841909-487-69e01af30c3c3' data-name='like-post-frame-64841909-487-69e01af30c3c3'><h3 class='sd-title'>Like this:<\/h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height:55px'><span class='button'><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading...<\/span><\/div><span class='sd-text-color'><\/span><a class='sd-link-color'><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For some baffling reason, we have gotten caught up in an insatiable need for more stuff &#8211; from clothes, cars, houses, electronic gadgets, toys, furniture and fixtures to new hairdos, pedicures and tummy tucks. We want to possess everything imaginable and never seem to be content anymore with the basics. According to comedian George Carlin, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" id=\"sharing-facebook-487\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=twitter\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\" id=\"sharing-twitter-487\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=linkedin\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\" id=\"sharing-linkedin-487\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=pinterest\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span>Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-stumbleupon\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-stumbleupon sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=stumbleupon\" title=\"Click to share on StumbleUpon\"><span>StumbleUpon<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-google-plus-1\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-google-plus-1 sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=google-plus-1\" title=\"Click to share on Google+\" id=\"sharing-google-487\"><span>Google<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=487&amp;share=email\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,14,15,6,17,16,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-life-of-values","category-inspirations","category-the-commodity-of-time","category-paths-to-happiness","category-rational-thinking","category-the-great-balancing-act","category-the-simpler-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":489,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions\/489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}