What brings me pleasure....sun on my face...time with my hubby.....teaching meditation.........seeing my children happy and smiling.....feeling the warm furry puppy nestle in a ball on my lap as I write this.......having no thing in particular to do....a really good book...koto music....the Abba movie with Meryl Streep....swimming....chai latte with Soy.....
It’s true my pleasures are pretty simple......
And then when I think about what stresses me......bills, time, complications, Chaos, world news, deadlines....
It seems I like a no fuss, uncomplicated world.
Don’t we all? Or maybe not? The more is better adage seems to consume the world on many levels.
Really for many of us it takes some courage to go for ‘less’. Give up more work so you can sit on the beach in the morning with your partner and watch the sun rise, or be there for your children when they get off the bus from school. Give up more money so you are less pressured by the stresses of work and more fun to be around generally!!
And yet with life comes a modern irk. The need to have a bigger TV, better washing machine, shinier shoe.....faster internet....and a consequent need to have a bigger income to support it all.
And while you are giving up to get simpler, the demands of keeping up get more expansive...prioritising the needs and wants and separating the desires and requirements is the answer....but it too isn’t always easy....a reality check is often in order! And keeping a firm grip on environmentally sound practices and eating with responsibility can all add up in the dollar stakes. It seems simple suddenly is not so simple anymore!
I guess the answer for me is to balance as well as prioritise. Balance how much time I give to my work...with how much time I give to my family and how much time I allow for myself. Balance how much money I spend on healthy food with how much I allow for non-necessities but great pick me ups emotionally, like music, entertainment and family outings.....to remember that simplicity is also in attitude not just actions and to allow things to happen as they do and follow their unfolding much as one follows the breathe, knowing an in will always go after an out and trusting in the process...
Being simple is being in tune with your most authentic and alive self and bringing it into direct and conscious contact with your everyday life!
Many of us are not even fully aware of why we make the choices we do. Choices that psychologically and physically weigh us down and prevent us from leading the finest possible life we can. For example, we focus upon buying a larger house, a new car, a fancier stereo, bigger TV and smaller ipod and so on. The extended effects of these choices mean we may have to take on an extra job, or work longer and harder, therefore leaving us with little time or energy to spend with our family and friends, or even on our favourite hobbies.
To truly simplify we must go within, discover our unique and individual spirit, our hearts desires and our genuine values, the ones that we are truly happy to live by, and allow ourselves to shed all the things that prevent us from living this life we yearn for, the uncomplicated life we deserve.
My normally beautiful simple life is peppered with moments of confusion, of worry about what others think, self-doubt and bill juggling….but the effort to return to the breath, as we do in meditation and find the flow once again, and slow it all down is well worth it…and sitting on the beach in the mid morning sun, watching my hubby and son surfing, or cooking up a healthy storm with my daughter whilst singing old but good songs from my distant past, or catching up with the older girls and having our usual rumbunctious, laughing family bbq, I can attest to the simple warm joy it brings.
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