I keep one promise with myself and that is to live a simple life. At times I complicate my life and my anxiousness grows and becomes unbearable. I then recognize it because before it completely alters your life, it drops crumbs on its path. I realign myself with a few lessons that I learned over the years.
Living a simple life is about minimizing, so that you have space to breathe. It’s about doing with less, because you know that doing more is not equivalent to being joyous. It’s about finding happiness in the simple things and being content in the moment.
I’ve learned some lessons for simplifying my life and I thought I’d share a few with you.
- Step out of stress and struggle- Know that you have a choice to do so in every moment. Do not get attached to anything to the extent that instead of giving you pleasure and comfort it becomes a concern for you. You must know that you are enough and that nothing else outside of you makes you complete.
- Reduce clutter- If you are attached to sentimental items, you won’t be able to let go of clutter. If you are attached to a certain lifestyle, you will not be able to let go of a lot of stuff.
- Do one thing at a time- Be it work, answering a call or message, washing dishes, reading an article do it with your complete attention. Be fully present as you do it. Drop your multitasking hat and work more on the quality of each task at hand.
- Find happiness in a few simple things– For me, those include painting, doodling, writing and reading, learning something new, meditating, reaching out to my loved ones and spending quality time with people I care about. Let go of everything your mind has fixated upon and enjoy the simple activities which involve zero costs and no feeling of possession.
- Know what you want and say no to the rest- Saying no and knowing when to say yes is the key to simple joy in life. Know this that if you are saying yes to or investing your time and energy into something, it must be in alignment with the agenda of your soul, if not have the courage to deny the same.
Of course, these are not the only lessons you’ll need for living a simple life. Try to simplify your life and you will discover beautiful things about yourself and about life.
National Coffee Day
September 29, 2018