having less living more

Life is anything but simple today. Many are finding happiness elusive despite abundance. Others are having to choose between family and career. Still others are suffering from overwork, stress, and even the loss of a job. And underscoring it all is the looming environmental dilemma. Phrases such as downshifting, downsizing, voluntary simplicity, and simple living have become common expressions in the face of these problems. People everywhere are beginning to yearn for a simpler way of life as an alternative to unbridled materialism, and a way to get off the consumerism treadmill and regain control of their lives.

Establishing a simple life, however, is a process, which involves making informed choices and taking deliberate steps. The world at large is steeped in materialism and presents many obstacles and challenges to those who would embrace a simple lifestyle. For those reasons, and more, Abacus Principle is dedicated to teaching others how to establish and live a simple life amid a materialistic world.

 

Some of the most often asked questions about living a simple life are:
  • What constitutes a simple life?
  • Why is a simple life the best choice?
  • How is the simple life implemented?
  • What are the benefits of living a simple life?
  • What obstacles can be expected and overcome?

The answers to those questions and more are provided in the form of a workshop entitled The Abacus Principle: Defining, Establishing, and Living a Simple Life. If you are interested in learning more, please check the Speaking page for information about the workshop. We look forward to meeting you at a workshop soon.

Recent Blog Post

For the inaugural blog, I thought it only fitting to begin by telling the story that became the catalyst for change in my own life. In the summer of 1997 I was about to start the third year of what would turn out to be a four year project. The hours were long, about 70 to 80 hours a week. And while the pay was good because of the overtime, it seemed that it was just barely enough. I was on the consumer treadmill and didn’t truly realize or understand that. The stage was set.

One day during a discussion about our hectic lives, a coworker related a story that carried the theme of living a simpler, less stressful, and happier life. It resonated instantly. He had been born and raised in Mexico, but immigrated to the United States, and had heard the story there. The story, I have come to discover, has been told in many different lands to those who would seek “something better.” Wherever it’s told, it retains the same basic outline. It goes like this: