At one point, I have lived a very complicated life, often jolting out of bed in the morning with a thousand urgent things needing my attention all at once.
And now, I live a slow and quiet life, far from the madding crowd so to speak.
And it is not because I lack things to do, but rather, I have found a way to use my energy wisely only on things that bring value to my life.
I have stumbled upon a very basic and simple truth that we all tend to overlook once we get into the momentum of grinding and working and buying and grinding some more to buy some more.
The basic truth is, life is easy and simple. We are the ones who choose to make it complicated.
I say this after going through hoops and trading my soul for silly things which I thought were important.
If you are even mildly interested in knowing how to live a happy and simple life, here are seven powerful tips:
1. I do not hate anyone.
There are some truths that you only truly understand when you get older.
To make my life simple, I have decided not to hate anyone.
And this is not to say that there isn’t anybody that I dislike.
But rather, I have carefully chosen the things that I make time for.
Gossiping about someone I don’t like will neither make me rich nor make me healthy.
Hate may destroy your enemies but will also destroy you in the process.
And whether you believe it or not, love and hate come from the same place.
You cannot say that you love your family while also feeling revengeful for another group of people. You can only be one person at a time.
Both love and hate are strong emotions in themselves and once you decide to be a lover, then there is no room for hate.
Consequently, if you hate someone now, you will only have room for hate in your life and are in no position to love another.
Physiologically, hatred overstimulates the nervous system, which can lead to a "fight or flight" response. Being in this state compromises the immune system and makes us more susceptible to illness.
I told you, life is simple.
If you focus on the people you love, on your hobbies and anything that makes you alive, you will not have time for people you don’t like.
2. I make sure to earn more than what I spend.
The original version of this principle was- “spend below your means.”
But I found this too limiting and I’m all about thinking in abundance and doing what I want.
So if I wanted to buy something but could not afford it right now, I would set aside cash every month and set a target date to accumulate the funds for this purpose.
I do not buy anything on credit.
I don’t mind walking or taking the public transport so there is no need to get a loan for a car.
The mental stress of owing someone money is just not worth it.
Life is simpler and happier when you do not have to pay debts every month.
3. What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important.
The sun that rises and sets everyday does not demand your attention yet the world would not exist without it.
Your family may not ask you to spend time with them everyday, but you will lose connection to yourself if they suddenly disappear one day.
If you truly took the time to sit down, list down all the things that you are rushing to do everyday, and ask yourself why you’re even doing it, you will find that only a handful of these things are truly important.
And because I like to keep things simple, I only have four things that I care about right now- staying healthy, traveling, living a comfortable life and spending time with family and friends.
If I find myself thoughtlessly scrolling through social media, I quickly catch myself and ask if I have time for this or if there is something important that I would rather be doing.
Majority of the time, I always have something more important to do.
Now, of course, what you consider as important is up to you. If scrolling through Facebook is genuinely important and brings you closer to your goals, then by all means carry on.
Being clear about what you want in this life helps to simplify your day to day decisions and lets you focus on what truly makes you happy.
4. If you are healthy, then you are a multimillionaire.
We often wait for a tragedy or a great illness to make that decision to live a healthy life.
But really, we can be kind to our bodies now while we are strong and full of energy.
You may come up with a hundred goals and things to do that you think will make you happy, but if your body refuses to cooperate, it is good as nothing.
If you really want to keep things simple, embrace the fact that health is your number one priority, regardless of how young or old you are.
You cannot do your duties as a mother if you are sick, cannot be a good lover if you are not feeling well, cannot find joy in eating delicious food if your senses are not working properly.
Making small changes to improve your health, like eating quality home-cooked meals or doing stretches every morning is a simple yet powerful way to take care of yourself.
5. Tomorrow may come, but first enjoy today.
I understand this concept is challenging for many people, but trust me, today is all you really have.
When we plan too much or meddle with life too much and try to control outcomes, we limit ourselves.
The way the universe works is beyond what our physical brain can comprehend, and we need to trust that things are always unfolding in our favor.
I have been a disciple of meditation, mindfulness and intentional living for quite sometime now, and if I can share only one powerful message from all these practices, it is this: There is an intelligence that governs all things, a silent yet powerful energy that puts the planets in their orbits so we don’t collide.
“Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished.”
Once you stop thinking too much and start being here now, you will begin to see the world in a different light.
You will start to see that all your power is really here and now.
6. Become mindful of attachments that lead to clutter and complexity.
For example, if you are attached to sentimental items, you won’t be able to let go of clutter. If you are attached to living a certain way, you will not be able to let go of a lot of stuff. If you are attached to doing a lot of activities and messaging everyone, your life will be complex.
I have talked about this many times before, and it is something that I like to repeat because the lesson merits repeating.
The things you buy will eventually end up in your space. And if your space is only a few square meters, then living and co-existing with other people can become a bit of a problem.
When I see something that I really like in the mall, I always like to ask myself, Why am I buying this? How often will I be using this item? Will this item make me happy once I take it home with me?
Because chances are, many of the shiny things that catch our attention will only make us happy for 5 minutes or 24 hours the most. After that, they become another random item in our home that takes up our space and our time.
7. There is always time for anything that is important to you.
Being busy is a myth.
Anything you choose to do now is your priority for the moment, and it’s neither good nor bad.
What makes it questionable is if you get too caught up in the random tasks in life and forget what really matters to you.
The truth is, we are not tired from working too much. We are tired from doing things we don’t like or are meaningless to us.
We are rarely very clear on what we want.
When we see someone post a photo of something cool, we might all of a sudden get fixed on doing that too, and suddenly the course of our lives veer off in a new direction.
What if we became crystal clear on what we wanted in life?
If we knew what we wanted to create, how we wanted to live … we could say yes to these things, and no to everything else.
Saying no to more things would simplify our lives.
Of course, these are not the only lessons you’ll need for living a simple life. But the best ones are the ones you discover yourself. Try these and see what happens – I think you’ll find out something beautiful about yourself, and about life.
The best kind of simplicity is that which exposes the raw beauty and joy of life as it is.
Comentarios