Hello everyone, sorry it has been a while since I’ve published a post; even I was surprised when I looked at my site and noticed that I hadn’t published in over two weeks. I guess that is kind of my motivation for this post. I titled this post “Simplicity” because I believe that we can all benefit from simplifying our lives. I know this is incredibly difficult in today’s world where we are taught to always be doing something. I think it is very important not to become complacent and to always strive for growth within ourselves but I want to ask a couple of questions. What is your motivation for growth? Is it personal success and accolades? Do you desire to make your family proud? Do you just simply want to be seen as a prominent figure? Now I don’t think that any of the above reasons are inherently bad by any means; however, I do caution that we can sometimes get lost in pursuing these goals.
I think it is important that we remember the people around us. Are we spending time with the people we value most? Do we take the time to help others who are in need? I have a feeling that when we come to the twilight of our lives, we will not wish that we had spent more time at work, or that we would have bought more possessions, or spent so much time worrying about how to make more money. I believe we will think about the people with whom we had relationships. We will wish that we had spent more time with our families and had more experiences in our lives. I think the pinnacle of this life is when you find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and the two of you share life’s experiences together.
Personally I have been struggling with the fact that I’ve felt a little lonely lately. I think I’ve turned to retail therapy, so to speak, to try and forget about some of these struggles…shocking is the fact that I haven’t felt much better. Haha, I know, who would have thought that nice things could make us feel better. I do like quality things; however, I believe I need to simplify the things in my life and forget myself. I want to clear my life of the unnecessary clutter that just gets in the way. I want to focus on making myself better as a person through helping others and experiencing what this beautiful world has to offer. I want to see all 50 states, I want to see what life is like in different cultures, I want to jump out of an airplane, I want to have the same experience as in “Yes Man” where Carl and Allison show up at the airport and tell the ticket lady that they want tickets on the next flight out, and go see the great white sharks in South Africa.
Now reality check… just so everyone knows I am still level headed. I realize that it will take money and hard work to have all of these experiences. So I encourage everyone to do a little better job of thinking about what you value in life and set the goal to save and work towards that. For me, I want to retire by age 50, so in order for me to accomplish that, I plan on living a more simpler life. I don’t want to have the 3,500 square foot home with four cars, although sometimes I can see how that can be appealing. Personally, I think I would be satisfied with a smaller home and the financial freedom to enjoy life without the stress associated with too much debt and bills. I want to be in control of my own life and not be controlled by creditors.
I guess I am still searching for the person with whom I want to share these experiences. It’s funny how you can think that you have found that person but then life happens and some things do not turn out how you thought they would or how you wanted them to. Then again, maybe it was needed and it will lead you to something much greater than you could have ever dreamed of. Or maybe the time will make you realize that you want what you had. Either way hopefully it will end in the best possible way.
My challenge to all who read this is to take a little extra time on the sideline from the rat race. Take time to appreciate the people and those experiences that have shaped your life. Think about all of the opportunities and blessings that you have had in your life. I promise that life will be much better as we look for the good and not the bad.
” Live simply so others may simply live” Gandhi
Nunc Coepi 