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.  However, I will not address each question directly when I write about a new challenge because it would feel a bit redundant after awhile.

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.