Beautiful Life

As I am sitting here, in my tiny 1 1/2 appartment, listening to Christmas classics (YES this early :D) I am realizing how simple my life is. I am surrounded mostly by what I need, rather than the superfluous. When I first entertained the idea of living in such a small space, I couldnt understand how I would survive. Where would all my stuff go? How would I move around? How would I survive? And I soon realized that I didnt need all this stuff to live happily. In fact, since I moved into here and have had to simplify everything, it seems that simplicity has also settled into my daily life, into my being. I am calm, I know more of who I am, and best of all, I am really enjoying being free of the very things I thought I needed to survive. Now comes the realization that happiness is made by how I surround myself (people, things, academic pursues, etc) rather than by how much I can surround myself in. My appartment is clean, and warm (and also decorated for Christmas). My dog is laying in the sun on my bed watching me. I have a fridge full of good food, with containers full of flour, sugar, etc. just inviting me to create new delicious culinary things. I have a wonderful fiancee who is willing to unite his life to mine for the rest of our days. What more can I need? God forbid I ever forget this lesson.