Amish Peace

I am listening to a book on CD called Amish Peace about how the Amish live.

I am really enjoying it--I would LOVE to go over the Amish families in the area and see how they live from the inside.

Don't they just seem peaceful-not calm (who would be with 12 kids running all the time) but peaceful? Part of that is attributed with having a slower pace of life--which they are proud of--we seem to try to cram as much as possible in a day, and not notice anything around us.

No I don't want to be Amish, but I want to know the mentality behind "you are rich enough when you can afford to leave things alone." I think that is the quote.

They live simply, they don't aspire for MORE, they are happy with what they have and are thrifty people.

Here I am with a room (house) full of stuff I don't need, don't use, and only brings thoughts of frustration!

What a good mental trait to pass on to my girls! Why do you need more when we can't keep care of what we have?

So I looked at my life

-toys--way more than needed

-furniture--good amount, but not what we need (I have three dressers in the girls room - one has only one drawer, one has only two drawers--not a good use of furniture!)

-clothes--way more than needed

-clutter--more than I need

-food--more than I need (I throw food away every week) Yes I believe in food storage and I will always have more than I need, but I need to plan menu's better so I don't throw away as much food!

So in EVERY aspect of my life I have WAY more than I need. So the hard part is getting ride of it---having the simple and plain mentality that it is just stuff--and needs to be pared down!

I know the Amish life is romanticized. Trust me, I don't want to live the Amish way--I know enough about them to know it is hard, long, work to be like them, and I love my modern technology (as I sit and type away on my computer, while running a fridge, freezer, heater, and radio, and most likely will use the TV as a babysitter this afternoon).

One thing they have said is--modern women wake up and are faced with 100's of pointless decisions daily --what to wear, how to fix my hair, make-up, what socks? shoes? Should I check my email now or later--and so on and so on! They take most of the time consuming/pointless decisions we make and get rid of them. They might have chores that take a long time, but "each task takes as long as it takes"--and you don't rush it--because they don't have their cell phone ringing, their fax machine going, a new message on facebook/twitter/hotmail/yahoo and a to-do list that never gets done--they simply don't live with the interruptions.

so while I am sitting here waisting the day away I am sure in the Amish community they are buzzing like bee's.

Two totally random pieces of information for you...

1. the Amish come to some of the parades during the 24th celebration--and not to be rude, but they totally have Hobbit feet--not hairy, but big and calloused. They hardly wear shoes and their feet show it. crazy!

2. In the "true" Amish community they try not to draw attention to themselves, so when you see something advertised overly as AMISH--you can guess it might not be pure Amish.

Guess I better learn something from those Amish women and get to work.