Simple

There is just so many things that needs to be done. Which is more urgent?

Humans have the greatest minds in the entire world but humans have also made things more complicated than it should be. Life is really simple. You wake up, you get through the day, and then you sleep. This is basically all we need to do every single day. How complicated can this be?

In this day and time, having a simple life seems so distant. We have too many things on our plate. There are too many distractions pointing us to different directions. We just cannot decide on anything when the time comes. The most common question people ask these days is probably one that nobody in the ancient history would even imagine any of their descendants asking.

How to live a simple life? I have no time, no money, and no skill to do it.

Seriously?

We have been too cluttered with the outside world that we just forgotten to connect with our inner self. This is the only reason we are feeling totally lost, especially at times like this. When the whole world is on lockdown. When you are sustaining a pay cut. When you risk losing your job. When everyone else is talking about the pandemic. When the people around you seem to be changing but you are still the old you, stagnant. You still think the world revolves around you.

It is time to wake up. Nobody is stuck. Everybody has been put to the test. When there is a huge challenge, there is the opportunity unlike any other you have ever seen before. You need to grab that opportunity to make you become the better version of you. What are you waiting for?

The world is on lockdown. You have all the time you need to ponder on what makes your life simple. What other time better can you think of if not now? How much time do you need to think? Does it take a whole year to sit in the loo? Perhaps you do not yet realize this but sitting in the loo actually is the best time to find clarity. When you are passing motion, that is the time when your strength to force trash out is at its peak. Notice the feeling right after that peak. Does it feel like a big sense of relief? Notice that second this happens, notice how clear your mind is. You only need this moment. Your body is clear of shit, your mind is clear of clutter, and your soul is pure.

Living a simple life really only mean simple, nothing more than that. Do not be brainwashed by anyone else. We see things differently. We live through life differently. You may have friends telling you that living a simple life means to have a cottage in the countryside away from the city. Then you would be having all sorts of objections to it because living away from the city means you will have to commute very far each day. It is just not economical. If it is possible for you to live in the countryside, you are free to do so. But if not, then what is wrong with the place you are living in now? Any place can be simple. You buy less things. You keep less things. That is a simple life. Just that.

You say that you are a very messed up person. You do not know how to simplify things. You love to keep all memorabilia. You want to have everything just in case one day you might use them. You do not know how to differentiate which ones are important and which ones are not. You are always living thinking of the future. Really, it is not a skillset to learn to let go of things. It is all in the mind. You do not know which ones to throw out, simple, just close one eye and junk everything out. Put yourself in the situation whereby you have lost everything and you need to rebuild your life. What do you really need in your life? Do you still need that magazine you bought two years ago but never flipped a page? Do you still need that dress you bought five years ago just in case you attend a ball but has never seen the light?

In the end, you will realize what you really need is just you, and probably your phone.

Finding yourself takes little to no effort. Living a simple life gives you time, saves you money, and require no skill at all.

 

Best rule for a simple life… Care with no reason, Love with no expectation.

Ritu Ghatourey, Indian writer