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What is? What if?

I watched a man die at one of the stores where I work doing merchandising. He just fell over and died right there about 15 feet away from me. I didn’t go over, there were already several people gathered around, 2 people were performing CPR on him, the store had already called 911. I stood back and prayed silently as I continued to work.

I watched the paramedics work on him and take him away. I saw one of the paramedics in another store later in the day and asked about the man, she told me what I already suspected, he didn’t make it.

As you can imagine, that weighed heavily on my mind the rest of the day. I have now witnessed 4 people leave this earth, each had a somewhat different affect on me, this one made me think about just how fleeting and temporary life truly is. This helped put life into perspective, what is really important, what is really insignificant, what do I need to go ahead and do instead of putting it off for later. I wonder what that man might have done differently that day had he known it would be his last day to spend here on earth…

These words are not meant to bum you out, but rather are meant to get you to look at your life, let go of the insignificant things, realize what is important, live your life to the fullest each and every day… Hug someone you love.

All too often, we put off what we really want to do, we get caught up in the minutia of life and focus on the insignificant parts. We all have things we want to do, at least I can say that I do. But going to work, doing a job we hate just to make ends meet, taking a vacation once or twice a year and believing that will recharge us for the rest of the year. I’m not saying quit your job and become a bum, you should be reasonable, but you could be using that time while living day to day to work toward living the kind of life that is more satisfying.

What are your goals? You DO have them, right? What would you do differently today if you knew you were going to die tomorrow? Of course that is an extreme, but we ALL have an expiration date, we just don’t know when that is, it could be before you finish reading this sentence, it could be tonight, tomorrow, next week, next year, in 10 years… you get the idea, it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when, not if.

So what are you going to do with your life? Here is what I decided to change, I have been wanting a camera, a good one, I can make money with it, it will …

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Make a wish, believe in it

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As the end of summer slides past us, the days are getting shorter and cooler. Our rainy season has all but ended,  the last few days has been almost dreamy, with low hanging clouds and ground fog rolling through, cool and damp, the smell of wood smoke in the air from the first warming fires of the season tickle my nose, we settle into the end of our 7th year living off-grid, this December will start our 8th year, time has flown by so quickly, sometimes I have a hard time remembering my life before moving off-grid, and that is just fine with me.

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Choices, we all have them….

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For those of you who have followed my writing for a while, you will notice I am frequently trying to get people to go beyond just dreaming about their dreams and actually DOING something about it. Dreams are nice to have, but take the steps to turn that dream into a goal and start working toward that goal.

I saw this article today, at first I thought, oh brother, another post about “10 things”, but once I began reading these 10 things, it really made sense, for everyone’s life, including those who want to go off-grid or live more independently.

Personally I think numbers 2, 5, 9 and 10 are very important, all of them are good… read them over and begin applying them to your life, whether you wish to live off-grid or not, these are great ‘ism’s.

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Home Sweet Home in an RV

……I have bought my new home… and her name is Eunice. 

Here she is! This beauty is a 1994 Ford Coachman, a fully self-contained camper van. The interior is a sophisticated teal, my favorite color. Although I would deny suggestions that this what sold me (of course I would).

I put down a deposit just in time!  A group of retirees, ready to buy, pulled up to the curb where the van was still displayed for sale just as the previous owner was writing my receipt.

My mechanic (who kicked in negotiation services for free) talked down the previous owner, Rich, to $6,800.  It was worth every penny.  Rich, who declined the much higher price the old folks offered with very good grace, always made sure Eunice had the best of everything. He used a storage facility in winter, thus allowing her a relatively youthful appearance despite her maturity.  She rides smooth!

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