Simplifying Your Life

Simplifying Your Life, Photo credit: Heike Frohnhoff

Simplifying Your Life, Photo credit: Heike Frohnhoff

Inspired by a reading yesterday, I would like to share these ways to simplifying your life.

1. Focus on doing good things and all else will follow

This morning I read a comment someone made that being a good person is the world’s toughest task. Indeed, it could very well be the greatest challenge – especially when we put the focus on being a good person.

When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad, and that’s my religion. – Abraham Lincoln

Let us focus on doing good things and becoming a good person will come naturally in the process. It couldn’t have been more simpler than that. To do a rain check on ourselves, we can use the Integrity test: What we do when no one is watching us should be the same as when we know that someone is watching us. And follow our heart, not our ‘desire’, as it will always have the right answer for us.

2. Change should and must come from us – FIRST

I am a strong believer of the philosophy, “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” Instead of trying to change people, we lead and inspire the change.

3. Spend time with positive, loving and happy people

We know that positiveness and happiness are highly contagious, and yet we are allowing ourselves to be ‘beaten’ continuously by negative people around us. Have a clear picture of the kind of person we want to be and associate ourselves with like-minded people who are supportive and are willing to help us to become the person we aspire to be.

It is easy to let go of negative people who are not closely related to us. How about those closely related to us? I’m not telling you to cut the tie completely; let them know that you will keep the lifeline always open for them and yet understand clearly that you can lead the horse to the river, you can’t make it drink. Understand also that they may not be ready now and there will be a time when they are ready; be there for them when they are.

4. Start loving people, including ourselves, and let go of any hatred we may hold of others

I forgive everyone in my life, and release them with love. They are free and I am free. – Louise Hay

As the saying goes, “Holding on to hatred is like grasping hot coals with the intent of throwing them at someone else, but we are the ones who are getting burned.” Harness the power of forgiveness and set ourselves free.

5. Living in the present

The past is gone, the future is not yet here. If we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life. – Thich Nhat Hanh

Learn the lessons from the past but leave the past where it should stay. Start living in the moments, mindfully. The things we are doing today will create the tomorrow we dream. By putting our attention to the current moments, we can make a huge difference in simplifying our lives. Take care of today and tomorrow will turn out to be what we want it to be.

6. Start to take up responsibility

My life completely changed the moment I took responsibility for everything that happens to me. – Steven Aitchison

Putting the blame on others accomplishes nothing and complicates things. Be the master of our fates and the captain of our souls. Choose to be in control of ourselves and not to let go of that control to someone else.

7. Put useful information in our minds and mind our own businesses

The mind is the garden of our well-beings. Would we dump rubbish into our gardens? Yet, we are putting useless information into our mind. Online social medias like Facebook, Twitter etc are splendid way to keep in touch, yet many spend hours everyday minding the businesses of their friends in these social medias. We should be the one making use of these social medias and not the other way round.

8. Take a step backward in making decisions

Moving backward could be the best way to forge ahead sometimes. Think things through before making decisions especially when we know our emotions are kicking in. The best decisions are usually made with a clear mind.

As the saying goes, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” A simple life is a life without rules, just a set of guiding values. So forget about what you have just read here and start living.

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