Steve Smith Setting a Good Example...

Steve Smith's home in Charlotte, NC listed for $2.9MAs many of my friends and readers know, my small family has been progressively downsizing our home for the past three years.  We started in 2007 with a 2,500 square foot home with a detached 2 car garage and a yard.  In 2008, we moved into an 1,800 square foot townhome with a 1 car garage and no yard.  Finally in 2010, we have settled on a 1,290 square foot condo with covered parking.  This suits our family perfectly right now and gives us the time to spend with each other rather than doing house chores that we don't find gratifying.  

This lifestyle doesn't fit everyone but it sure could fit a lot of people.  Almost everyone I talk to is jealous that I don't do yard work.  It frees up hours each week for me to focus on other things.  That's not the only thing that is significantly less time consuming.  We now have half the house to clean.  We have less than half the stuff to maintain and we're not sacrificing our quality of life at all.  

This is why I was shocked to read this quote in an interview of NFL All Star wide receiver Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers in Pro Football Weekly.

...we built this huge house and we just don't have any business living in it. It seemed like a great idea, and then we moved into this big house. Qe started cringing at all that space we had. For me, it was a little bit vain that I have this big house with this big yard. People saw my house was on sale and said it was me sending a message. Really the message I sent was to my kids: Dad made a mistake. This isn't how we are supposed to live. This isn't what I should be projecting. If we don't do this now (sell the house), what incentive do I give my kids to reach for? You make a lot of money and then you go blow it? I don't want to be a statistic. I want to be a good steward.

Wow!  If NFL'ers are starting to think this way then we may really be on the verge of a complete change in the way our society thinks about how and where we live.  Kudos to Steve Smith.