Proverbs 8:5 –Good sense and sound judgment can be yours.

Gratitude Day 821

What is filling my soul these days? Hearing from many of you and how Simple Is Better is resonating with you right now. And the fun stories that have been shared with me! I ADORE them! Please keep sharing!

But wouldn’t it be great if we could harness some of this Simple energy and move it beyond what is in our houses? How else can we embrace Simple Is Better?

Here are a few ideas.

Decluttering Is Emotional

In case you haven’t experienced this yet, there will probably come a day when you feel, “This is EXHAUSTING.” And it is.

It’s not just the physical side of getting rid of stuff. As much as we want less and love the feeling of having less, there is the reality that our emotions get tied into stuff.

I think there were times when my Mom had good intentions of getting through things. But I honestly think the emotional energy of doing so was too much for her. She was so emotionally tied to things that letting them go was difficult. She remembered times when she and my Dad were not financially able to get things they needed. So when she had the resources to do so, she went a little overboard. Her perceived value of something also influenced her ability to let things go.

If you have run into this, what should you do? First, honor your feelings. Do not be ashamed or disappointed. Give them space to be observed. Maybe take a break or shift your focus to something that is less emotional. Encourage yourself to deal with just one item a day. This is seven items a week, which is seven that had not been dealt with before. Do this for a year and you now have sorted through 365 items that you had been previously avoided.

Let yourself be good with every little and small win. These little wins compound into bigger wins over time.  

Simple is More than Just Physical Stuff

Starting with the physical stuff is often where we begin. It’s easy to see progress when there are less things in a drawer or closet. It’s WONDERFUL to have a little open space in your house and surroundings. The tangible is always easiest to see results.

But Simple Is Better is more than just hauling stuff to a donation center or bags of garbage. Simple Is Better is SO. MUCH. MORE. It’s allowing for open spaces on your calendar. It’s giving yourself permission to not HAVE to be productive ALL. THE. TIME. Simple can be letting go of a negative attitude or something that bogs you down, like how overthinking hangs me up.  

I’m challenging myself to think of Simple Is Better as a core of my philosophy. What I want to be super important in my life. Not the most important thing in my life, but certainly a value that I contemplate as I make daily, weekly and annual choices. I’m still working this out in my life, but here are a few examples.

I am thinking about what I consume in every area of my life: what I eat, where I spend my time, how much time email takes in my life, how frequently I spend time scrolling mindlessly on my phone. Simple can also include who you spend time with and what relationships are most important to you. It’s how I start my mornings as well as how my days end. I’ll share more of this in the near future but I hope that as you feel the joy of getting rid of physical things in your life, this will encourage you to slide this same attitude into other areas of your life.

Simple is a Journey, Not a Destination

Will you ever get to the point where you will fully have every part of your life defined by Simple? No. Just about the time you might think you are near this; something will happen and change an area of your life.

And this is OK.

Embrace that new life experiences will encourage you to look at Simple Is Better beyond today. We learn from our live experiences and this is another part of this journey.

Let your little improvements encourage you to celebrate! I pray you will have tiny epiphanies which help you learn and grow from this attitude. If you feel like you are taking a couple steps back before you take another step forward, be OK with this. Tiny progress is progress.

Embrace Failure Along the Way

Remember me sharing about all those books I got rid of before me moved? Well, a few new/used ones have showed up at my house. And they are not all from the library.

Ugh. Books are my bane.

Is this failure? Well, I could probably justify every book that I purchased. This is not what is important. Instead, be OK with times when you backslide a bit. We still need to live our lives and enjoy life.

What else is inspiring me right now?

This Song.

This verse from the weekly scripture reading I have been following:

One way that I see myself as serving God right now is letting go of those things that no longer are serving me and release them for others to enjoy and use. I’m trying to set aside what ever investment I might have put into it and not let this guide my decision. Instead, if it has good life yet, I’m letting it go so someone else can find joy in their lives. This really helps me hold a little more loosely to things when I see this as a way to serve God and my neighbors.

This book.

Truth? It’s one of the books that showed up at my house this week. I haven’t started reading these blessings yet but am anxious to do so!

Simple Is Better. I pray that you are finding tiny little ways to embrace simpler in your life. And that it is giving you new life. And in the process, you are discovering good sense and sound judgement.

For celebrating every little Simple step that I have and can make, I am grateful.

Blessings –

Loving God – I pray that I come to you for good sense and sound judgement. May I see the many different ways that I can serve you today and tomorrow. Together, may I discover a new way to embrace Simple in my life today. Amen.

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