I have developed the following 5 questions to help me determine which practices from my grandparents’ generation I will keep or toss out.  These questions will form the basis of each Grandma Challenge.

1.  How did my grandparents do it?
2.  How do we do it now?
3.  Which way seems most ideal as I try to live a more sustainable and simple life?
4.  Can I maintain my ideal within the context of my current life situation?
5.  If not, what changes do I need to make to close the gap between my reality and my ideal?

I am not advocating for a return to everything my grandparents did because they certainly did not do everything right.  They were probably only “mostly green” and not everything they did was simple.  I purposely chose to examine my grandparents’ generation because their stories provide a measure I can relate to and learn from at the same time. 

These five questions will help me determine if I should do something my grandparents way or if our current way of doing it is better.  I know we have made progress in many areas.  I suspect I will often end up doing things in a way that honors the spirit of my grandparents while bringing the best of both worlds together.   

These questions are also important because I do not live in a bubble.  I am a wife, a mother, a friend, a daughter, a sister, and a neighbor.  I plan to make some significant changes in my life this year, but I have to weigh my desire to learn to live more sustainably and simply with the impact it will have on those who live directly around me - especially my husband and three children.

My changes will not have staying power if I am driving myself and those I care about stark raving mad.  If a particular change is creating an enormous amount of stress, I may have to try it on a smaller scale or ditch it altogether until my circumstances become more accommodating.  This is a key part of the process.  If I find I cannot maintain an action or attitude in the short-term, all is not lost because I can make a plan that will allow me to implement it down the road. 

Throughout the course of this year, I am going to challenge a lot of my own long standing assumptions about what actions and attitudes I have a right to as well as what creates a genuine sense of well being in my life.  I hope I discover a life lived sustainably and simply is infinitely more satisfying, but I cannot say for sure.  I only know I am willing to try.