Bucket List Practice #10 - Downsizing

Throughout the month of January I am creating a Bucket List in which I will suggest one New Year’s Practice each day that will give you a taste of living an integrated life for 2011. (By integrated, I mean one in which your faith, your character, your relationships, your responsibilities--all elements of your life--are in agreement.) Each one is meant to be exercised in one day. Please feel free to share about your experience in the comments section below. We will move through four different themes of living an integrated life. The second week January we'll explore practices related to ourselves.

Today's practice is to downsize. However, our American culture is always about supersizing. Bigger, more, faster. But indulging ourselves more causes us to lose balance in our lives.  When "bigger" and "more" are served for dinner, then obesity, greed, debt, and exploitation are what's burped out. We need to integrate the concept of "enough" if we want to live to the fullest.  I like how Charles Wesly put it:

"Christians should give away all but the plain necessities of life; that is...wholesome food, clean clothes, and enough to carry on one's business."

So today we will practice simplifying our consumption habits. There are many ways to practice that within one day. Maybe when you eat, don't go for seconds (and don't load up your plate either!), or eat about a fourth of what you would normally eat.  If you tend to work a lot and get caught up in the rat race, then maybe just work a standard shift tomorrow.  Or if you're thinking about making a purchase in the next couple days, maybe go for the generic brands, or decide steer away from a loan for something you don't really need.  Either way, look at what you tend to gobble up the most, and just take much smaller bites today.  You'll be fine.