The common-sense organization of life is a necessary part of living the simple life. You hear people saying, "we've got to get organized" or "we've got to get it together." We clearly feel the lack of harmony in our life. As one of my executive friends says, "their football team blocks their own kicks." We feel the compartmentalization, the segmentation, the alienation within ourselves because we lack good common-sense organization. When we do not really know what we are trying to accomplish and haven't had the discipline to develop a direction or a quiet center, we are out of sync. Let me quickly say, organization isn't synonymous with order. I have always had a gift for organizing my thinking and my direction. However, Mary Alice would be quick to tell you that her definition of order and mine of organization are distinctly different! Early in our family life I reminded all that scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is threshing the grain." I have threshed a lot of grain and my workspace shows it.
Common-sense organization is simply stating clearly what you are trying to do. Oftentimes during the week or month or year I have to stop and say," what am I really trying to do?" Early in my career I had a boss who would start each meeting with, "The object of the exercise is…" It has been a good discipline for me to review my progress and make sure that I understand what it is I am trying to do. It is easy to get diverted from our primary responsibility.
In our organization of the simple life we need to define our lifestyle. And we have to first start with money. I am totally convinced that there is no way to live a simple lifestyle if you are over-spending your income. This simply brings complications that require manipulation and, to me, basically we are violating the spirit of truth. I can understand on temporary situations, calamities or emergencies, but to continually live above our income is a philosophical fault. . ,a character weakness. There is a TV ad that starts out showing a magnificent home, swimming pool, luxury cars and smiling families. The punch line is, "I am up to my neck in debt…help." The tyranny of image has created financial and relational havoc. A meaningful life is not built on maxing out the lifestyle. We have some friends that we can observe from a reasonable distance. He obviously is making a large income which they think they are forced to spend. The time and effort they put into their spending efforts as well as the silly things that they do is unbelievable. I guess it has never occurred to them that there are still organizations of charitable intent that still receive gifts. You are not forced to spend what you make doing foolish things. One of the most valuable lessons. Because I make money I don't have to spend it -I can give it away.
Our dear friend Mary Crowley took a distinctly different approach to her money. While eminently successful in the business she found so much time to be a marvelous person. She defined her lifestyle, but she wasn't defined by her lifestyle. She built an enormous business but maintained control of her ego and her values. We were in a small group discussing a particular ministry's finances. Upon hearing about the need and the way that the money would be used, she very generously gave them a million dollars. When I commented on it, she said, "Fred, remember how I wrote my will? " Being of sound mind, I gave it away. "She was not only of sound mind, but good heart. She learned early to organize her life around things that count.
