Simplicity, as a way of being, goes way beyond making dinner
in six ingredients or less. It is more than consolidating errands or cutting
back on spending. And it is deeper than
limiting the number of invitations given to a birthday party or reducing the
size of the front yard flower bed. While these ideas are helpful in the short
term, they do little to reduce the stress levels of an overly complicated way
of living in the bigger picture of life.
Certainly do make those changes as you journey toward a more
simplified lifestyle. However, as you embark upon the adventure of
disentangling the complex minutes, hours, and days that make up your life,
remember that the keys to achieving personal goals can only be found deep
within yourself.
A common characteristic of people (no one group in
particular, just a basic human trait) is the interminable need to control. We
have an insatiable desire to exert our own control over others, over the community,
over nature…everything. The best thing we can do with that need?
Let it go.
Every morning when I wake up, I check my e-mail on my very
fun little smartphone, and I read my own personalized note that comes from the
Universe itself (sign up to receive yours at www.tut.com – always fun and
entertaining to read, and more often than not, also thought-provoking). A part
of my note the other day said, “Only in hindsight will the miracles
become obvious.”
Isn’t that exactly right? It certainly is for me. All of the
bumps and twists in the road along this journey of life have amounted to precisely
that…miracles, both small and large. Think about it…the hardest, toughest, most
heart-wrenching and difficult situations to navigate in life are the very same
situations that have opened up doorways to new, tremendous, golden
opportunities. Could I see that as I passed through those tough times?
No, not
at all.
And the worst moments within those times were a direct
result of my own need to try and control those situations. Things just don’t
work like that.
As John Steinbeck
said, “A journey is like a marriage…the certain way to be wrong is to think you
control it.”
As you search your soul for direction on your simplification
journey, it is important to recognize exactly where you fall on the “Need for
Control” Spectrum. Once you recognize where you fall, think hard about all of
those specific situations which you are trying to control on some level. And
then come to a mutual understanding with this statement:
The only thing you have control over is yourself.
That’s it, plain and simple. The internal recognition of
this fact has the potential to bring an overwhelming semblance of simplicity to
your life. By letting go of the perpetually overbearing need to control
anything other than yourself, you are giving the gift of time and peace to your
mind and your soul.
The decisions you make will be based in ensuring that you
maintain control over your own actions, reactions, words, and thoughts.
If everyone on earth were to be so responsible, the miracles
found within a simplified lifestyle would never cease.
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