I am a minimalist by nature. I hate clutter. It makes me feel overwhelmed and it’s hard for me to focus with a lot of extra stuff around. I love getting rid of things – to a fault. I have often thrown away things that I still end up needing just to clear space. But the idea of letting go is so freeing. I believe you can “declutter” any area of your life and keep it simple. Less stuff to think about means being more present.
There is so much excess in our world today. I went to the store for pickles the other day and stood in the aisle for a good 5 minutes just looking at all the choices. Anytime I am looking for a new recipe to try I scroll through dozens of similar recipes wondering which one is worth my time.
Social media fuels this excess lifestyle by making people think that there is always something better to find, so we are never truly satisfied with anything. And we are overwhelmed by just how much stuff there is and how it all fights for our attention and energy.
My goal – for myself and for you – is to make life feel less overwhelming, more manageable and just simpler. To me, a fulfilling life is determined by how you fuel your body, who you spend your time with, and how you take care of yourself and loved ones. The less we focus on all the noise around us, the more energy we have to focus on what truly matters.
We often live in a state of attachment. In Buddhism, attachment is the root of all suffering. We attach ourselves to people, thoughts, material goods, or anything else, and then when we ultimately lose that thing, we feel lost or sad.
The idea that we can simply enjoy things as they come into our lives while they are there, and then let them go when it is time is truly a lifelong journey, but the more we can learn to let go or detach from what is not serving us, the more free we become – physically and mentally.
When we let go of expectations on how we should look, feel, act, or how things should go, we let go of all the weight of those expectations that we carry around. By letting go, we create the space for what is meant for us to come in to our lives, and more often than not, it is something far greater than we could have ever imagined.
It doesn’t need to be complicated. Living a meaningful life can be simple – especially when you are committed to taking small steps to create positive habits that can transform how you feel and how you live. Your health and well being is an investment not an expense. Keep showing up for yourself.
I’m going to make a blog post about several different areas of your life and how you can simplify them, but I just wanted to introduce the idea that your life can be simple and fulfilling AND you can make small changes towards becoming whoever you want to be.