One Year

It's been a rather tough year here. It was one year ago that Ron suffered a stroke, and while we are very grateful that it was not worse, and that he has made some good progress in that year... this year has had some challenges. Mostly, small frustrations. We have had the house listed for 8 months, without any success. We changed realtors last summer, and now we are getting ready to do a co listing, with another realtor from Kerrville. We are hoping that her experience and her premier group, will have good impact on our listing. Ron and I have differing views on how the listing strategy should be approached. We have been working hard to cut our controllable expenses to a minimum. I applied for some health insurance for me... we have been greatly blessed that I have had no health issues during the past year. I am in that "donut hole", between being covered on a company insurance plan with Ron and starting medicare. When he started medicare a year ago, that left me with nothing until I turn 65. We were also greatly blessed that Ron had just started medicare, about a week before he had the stroke. On another note, I think I have made some progress on selling our Wyndham timeshare. Another unexpected blessing has happened, as I have been "purging stuff" around here. It started out as a necessity, in trying to get to only the important stuff to be packed and moved. It has turned into a passion, called Minimalism. I started following a facebook group called No Sidebar. They have shared some amazing information on cleaning, organizing, and downsizing on "stuff".  But it is actually about more than just getting rid of excess items. Here is a quote from a recent article-

Minimalism is really all about reassessing your priorities so that you can strip away the excess and nonessential stuff—the possessions, beliefs, behavior, habits, relationships, and activities—that don’t bring value to your life, and focus on the essential stuff that does.
— Keeping only what adds happiness, value, purpose, and freedom to our lives and discarding the rest that is non- essential. This includes both physical (for example, clothes and paperwork) and nonphysical stuff (for example, negative relationships, feelings of worry and stress, unproductive habits, and nonessential commitments).
Minimalism at a personal level is best described by the Swedish word lagom. Lagom is defined as “enough, sufficient, adequate, just right.” It is also widely translated as “in moderation,” “in balance,” “perfect-simple,” and “suitable.”
Similarly, fewer possessions do not mean less satisfaction. Having less, but having the right stuff, can deliver more fulfillment. It is not so much about quantity, but more about quality.
It is a tool that helps us gain freedom—freedom from being overwhelmed, from nonessential stuff, from consumer culture, from mental clutter, from emotional blockages and negative relationships, from debt and joyless pursuits. It facilitates tangible freedom and the living of an extraordinary life. This is minimalism.

You might say that I am on a quest, to have less stuff, less house, less work, less driving, less clutter... and more peace, more time, more of the important things. So.. I guess this past "one year" has been a combination of frustrations and blessings ;)