Sunday, December 14, 2008

Simplify Things and Enjoy the Ride

I just happened to come across an article about a man who, since his marriage had ended, and his kids had gone off to college, wanted to live life a little, and chill out for a while. The result; a 16 foot wagon built at home, and 4 horses to pull it around the country. Apparently, life just got a little bit too crazy for the man, Bob Skelding, so he decided to cut some things out of it. "I got to the point where I could take the things I really don't like, like taxes and bills and a regular job, and shelved them," Skelding said. "(I) took the stuff I like in life, which is travel and meeting people and horses, and I rolled that all into a big pile and made the wagon."
I couldn't help but immediately think of Emerson and Thoreau while i was reading this article. Many of their writings concerned cutting out all the things in life that you don't need or want, and how you will be much happier with a simpler life. While many may not have the option of dropping everything and taking a trip around America just for fun, it just lets people know that there is more to life than hard work and paying taxes. Intrigued to find out what Skelding's view on life was, i went to his website, and found a page he wrote about his philosophy. He listed his ten most important things in life, the first three being, friends, family and the well-being of his fellow man, and the last being money. It's nice to see people recognize that money isn't everything, and that you can still be happy without much of it.

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