Why Not . . . Simplify Your Life? Part Trois

The third part in the Simplify Your Life series is a bookend to the two previous week’s five suggestions (Part I & Part II).  Doesn’t eliminating all of the excess and the unnecessary clutter allow for more clarity, more freedom, and more time?  I find myself less burdened with those things that I used to keep putting off, but know I needed to do – finding a place for clothes I didn’t wear anymore, wondering where to place those things in an overcrowded garage.  Cleaning out my clothes and my garage has revealed a lovely sight to look at, and I find I don’t miss a thing I have tossed.  Funny how that works. 

If you have read the two previous segments, you are aware that by simplifying we are not just talking about editing our lives of material items.  Relationships too need to be cleaned up, our driving, our thinking and our direction.  Have a look at the final five suggestions on how to bring more simplicity, thus more serenity, into your life.

Don’t Answer the Phone

After your professional day has come to an end, let the phone ring.  There is a reason for voicemail.  By controlling when you respond to people’s demands, you are placing boundaries around your time.  You are respecting yourself.  The reality in doing this is that often a handful of the callers will answer their own questions with time. I can recall several instances where I chose not to answer the phone, and low and behold, they either discovered what they were after on their own (given time) or they sought someone else. As we know, sometimes people act before they think things through.

 

Stop Banging Your Head Against A Wall

Keep in mind there is a difference between hard work which produces amazing results and the advice I’m suggesting.  What I am referring to are those times where we too often continually try something, again and again, hoping for a different result (ala the definition of insanity).  When in reality, we either need to try something different or go a different route.  This could be in reference to relationships, a business situation, a do-it-yourself project, or any endeavor that is causing an immense amount of frustration.  Evaluate your life and see if there is anything that you’ve been continually doing expecting a new and wondrous outcome only to become more and more fraught with anger. You might want to consider abandoning it and channeling your good intentions elsewhere.

 

Enjoy the Sunset

In other words, appreciate those dazzling wonders that we take for granted every day.  Slow down, take your honey out on the porch and just soak everything in.  Find this time. Slow down. Eliminate the unnecessary, so that you can cherish the unimaginable. 

Let Go of Unwanted Duties

There are times when we take on responsibilities – member of the PTA, volunteer at the shelter, go-to person extraordinaire solely because we “think” we should, not because we genuinely want to.  Let go.  Let someone who passionately wants this position have it, so that you can pursue what you do want to throw yourself into. Stop “shoulding” and start following your heart.

 

Be True To You

Stop pretending to live the life you think you should (there’s that word again), and live the life that calms your soul.  The life that lets you sleep through the night without having your conscious berating you to death.  Instead of trying to let others be comfortable with us, why not be comfortable with yourselves. Other people have their own lives to live, live yours.  That’s hard enough work as it is and so much easier when you are following your own internal compass. Out of curiosity, what would you change in your life right now if you were being true to yourself?  Something to think about.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of suggestions to try to create a more simplified life.  I am constantly trying to trim and edit my own life so that I have more room for those things that bring beauty and comfort.

Images: (1) Miss.Nelly (2) Tumblr (3) Source (4) Winter Skin (5) Source