Creating a Simple Life

Pants-Steve and Barry's (thrifted), Button up-Thrifted, Grey Shirt-Gap, Belt-Thrifted, Scarf-Thrifted, Necklace-F21, Watch-Betsy Johnson

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” -Charles Mingus

Many times throughout my life, my plate was so full that I thought I was going to explode from over stuffing myself. It was the feeling of having to unbutton your pants after a gluttonous Thanksgiving dinner, but not being able to enjoy yourself because you clearly pushed your stomach to it's limits. My days became a contest to see just how much I could fit in them, while not being able to stop and enjoy myself along the way. For example, I'll tell you what January-May of this year was like. I was...

-taking 25 credits at ASU (fulltime is 12 by the way),

-writing my book,

-working at an inner city high school,

-started The Shine Project,

-In charge of a youth group at my church,

-newlywed,

-Trained for and ran a half marathon,

-started a scholarship fund,

-etc, etc, etc.

Guys, I thought my head was going to explode. But this is how I have been my entire life...always wanting to do more, to be more. In the midst of me trying to accomplish what I felt was important, I remember having a very specific conversation with my husband. I guess it wasn't so much a conversation as it was a pity session for me as I cried to my husband, "I just don't have time for anything anymore." Because I was trying to excel at so many things, I spread myself too thin and did a mediocre job, instead of mastering and focusing on just a few of the most important aspects of my life. I made a list of what I reallly wanted out of my next year, and cut out things that would not lead me to the end goal.

In a fast paced society that teaches us that more is more, it's easy to loose ourselves in the complexity of life. But that's the thing...life doesn't have to be crazy. Life isn't supposed to run us, we are supposed to be in control. I realized that this control can only come when we simplify our lives.

We don't need to be involved in 104347 activities to be superwoman, our hair doesn't always have to be perfect, and if there's a couple crumbs on the counter the ants aren't going to come marching in. As I have tried to live more simply these past few months, I have noticed that I have created time to do things that make me happy. I have time to make treats for the neighbors, time to raise more money for the students, and time to spend with my awesome husband who helped me realize that I don't have to be a busy little bee 24/7.

Do we all have responsibilities that we much get to? Of course. But there's a difference between getting important things done, and overloading ourselves.

Your challenge this week, is to make the steps towards living a simple life. Write your ideas on Friday, and link back here... There's a few places that you could start....

1.Make a list of your top 4-5 important things. What’s most important to you? What do you value most? What 4-5 things do you most want to do in your life? Simplifying starts with these priorities, as you are trying to make room in your life so you have more time for these things.

2.Evaluate your time. How do you spend your day? What things do you do, from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep? Make a list, and evaluate whether they’re in line with your priorities. If not, eliminate the things that aren’t, and focus on what’s important. Redesign your day.

You can find more HERE

So tell me, how would living more simply help you create more happiness?

Let's do this!