Quirky Thursday-Three Credo’s We Try to Live By

***A note about Quirky Thursday posts. These are posts that will feature not-so-health-content-rich items that don’t fit anywhere else, but are hopefully either poignant, amusing, informative, satirical, or fun.

 THREE CREDO’S WE TRY TO LIVE BY

Well these Three Credo’s are in addition to what is in the Bible of course. Not like they are on par with the Bible, but just little phrases of wisdom that we have found useful to guide us in living more simply and comfortably. I thought I could share them with you so that you can start living better lives as well.  Or at least try to.

Credo 1: “If it isn’t lovely or useful get rid of it”.  There are potentially many things in a house that this would apply to, and this has helped Husband and me determine what to keep around and what to purge. I actually read that sentence in a book about twenty years ago, thought it brilliant, and started applying it then. My apologies to the author as I now have no idea who came up with it. “When in doubt, throw it out” (anonymous) is also helpful with “stuff”.

Junk and too much stuff is unhealthy. Just sayin’ in case you are wondering why this has a place on my blog.

Credo 2: “Do you want to be living in Hemet in a trailer when we are older?”  I am stepping on dangerous ground here.  I didn’t realize that when I started blogging that I would have to apologize.  But here I need to…to all the people who live in Hemet (I just don’t like inland hot cities) and/or a trailer (yes, they can be cozy, but I have a big family).  Anyway, do I have to say it is a little tongue-in-cheek?  And, I didn’t even come up with it; Husband did. I am sure that Hemet is a nice place to live; a lot of people have been flocking there. So anyway, let me explain when to use this saying.  Husband uses it when he wants me to curtail my spending and live more frugally, like when I come home with two bags of groceries that cost $149.86 at Whole Foods.  Or when I pay $8 at Zuma Beach to park in the beach parking lot instead of on (dangerous) Pacific Coast Hwy. Or when I have the air conditioner set below 80 degrees. (Well, now I can turn it down to 77 degrees because one time I told my sweet Mom about the 80 degree thing and she said, “That’s criminal!”, so I told Husband and it hurt his feelings, so now he allows our house to be cooler.)

The whole Hemet thing is probably an empty threat, but I keep it in the back of my mind anyway.  It is useful for deciding how to spend money…usually.  In fact, I even shared it with a co-worker awhile back.  Imagine my surprise and amusement when he told me afterwards that he had the “Hemet Talk” with his wife the night before!  He figures if they start being more careful with their money, and she stops impulsively shopping, and they work hard they could be out of debt in one year, then be able to start saving for the future. He said she said she would go along with it…

And lack of money is stressful, and stress is unhealthy so…that is why…oh forget it.

Credo 3: “Do we want to look like we just walked out of Five Guys or Whole Foods?” Five Guys, for those of you who don’t have one nearby is a fast food hamburger chain.  So, here I go again.  I want to apologize to them for insinuating that they are making everybody fat.  Not so.  People are making themselves fat.  However, it was very striking when Husband and I went there for dinner to see the average massive girth of those walking in and out, contrasted with where we went right afterwards, Whole Foods, across the street.  The people walking in and out of there didn’t have the “double cheeseburger, large fry, diet coke” waddle. In general, of course.  It was remarkable; we both noticed it.

Unfortunately, this is another one of Husband’s originals. Yep, he thought it up. Unfortunate because I wanted to go to Five Guys recently, but I got Credo 3 fired back at me.  I had a hard day at work and was really craving a truckload of fries dunked in mayonnaise.  I would have a protein-style hamburger on the side as well though. And an unsweetened ice tea. Nope, he wouldn’t budge.

Fortunately, however, on the other hand, because now we have a little mental image to help shape and curtail our eating habits. So, in the future when you see us more energetic, glowing with vibrancy, fit and trim, you’ll know where we have been spending more time.

Follow these 3 Credo’s and you are sure to be closer to awesomeness than ever.