Living a simple and meaningful life

Living a simple life is something I am really trying hard to implement into my own life, however life changes all the time and our priorities move from pillar to post in this ever changing world. Living a simple life leaves you with precious time to actually enjoy life itself and this is why we are here after all!

What we forget as the minutes and days pass us by is ourselves. But putting ourselves first is a priority. After all, how can we help anyone else if we are a stressed out bundle of multiple personalities.

I have a few of my closest friends feeling the need to slide into the background of this fast moving digital age. To live a simple life and create harmonious vibes doesn’t mean you have to completely withdraw. It just means cutting back on the things that potentially disturb your peace and substitute with the things that bring the simplicity back into your days.

Of course, to live in the moment, meditate and take each day as it arrives would be the best way to live, just like our four-legged furry friends, but life carries with it responsibilities and duties that cannot be ignored. Living a simple life means ‘balance’, so try to balance life’s necessities with pleasurable activities to make each day as happy and as gratifying as possible.

Living a Simple Life. How do I make my Life Simpler?

How do we go about living a simple life? What can we add or subtract from our days or our lives to disentangle our thoughts and activities? I have given a lot of thinking time to this with regards to my own life and listening to others who have felt the way I have been feeling over these last few years. The whole world changed suddenly and we all experienced a massive disruption in the structure of our pathway to life when we encountered the good and positives, as well as the pitfalls and sadness of Covid and lockdown.

I have tried various processes to alter my life from a hectic to an uncomplicated life. Some ideas are quite effective and very easy to complete, whilst others have taken time to accomplish and with each one of these activities they have brought me some peace and time for myself, simplified my life and brought me less stress and more calm. 

Living a Simple Life by De-cluttering

Declutter…..it’s good for the soul. Decluttering your life is more than tidying a few drawers. We tend to cling on to the things we do not need and there comes a time when we need to be honest with ourselves. Clothes that no longer fit or clothes you don’t wear but might do one day, all need to go. Take your time with your wardrobe, scale it down and donate to your local charity shop.

De-cluttering your life is not just down to your wardrobe. It includes paperwork, outstanding emails and deleting unwanted files on your computer. How many times do you leave that same email again and again because you know it will take too much time to answer or having to complete the lengthy attachment. Once emails are answered, spend some time opening email files so you can save anything you need without cluttering up your inbox.

The same goes for files saved on your computer. We have a tendency to save for later and then not deleting. All these small activities simplify our lives and prevent those overwhelming feelings. Owning less and living a simple life, means less cleaning, less stress, less anxiety, less burden, each and every day. 

Clutter is nothing more than postponed feelings. Barbara Hemphill

Meditation, Yoga and Mindfulness

Meditation and self care should be placed high on your priority list. Practices such as mindfulness, meditation and yoga are a form of personal care that will help to improve your life and of those around you. During meditation and yoga you can feel a sense of calm by focusing on your breath, enhancing your awareness and relaxing your whole body.

Mindfulness practices will bring you back to the present moment, calming the mind and help you enjoy life as it happens. Mindfulness will encourage you to focus on everyday occurrences that would normally pass you by during times of stress. We tend to operate on auto-pilot during our daily mundane tasks such as cleaning our teeth, or taking a shower. Mindfulness will turn these ordinary routines into enjoyable ‘present moment’ tasks.

Meditation is a self awareness practice enabling you to sit with your thoughts as they pass through your mind. In time, you will learn to accept any thoughts, good or bad, without judgement or analysis.  You will just become aware of how you feel at the time and then let it go. This whole process may result in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.

So much joy can be found in slowing down! Emily Ley

Make Life a little Simpler....Keep to a small group of close friends

Being the ‘Queen of the Castle’ with hundreds of friends and followers appears to be the goal of many. The digital age has brought a new meaning to ‘friends’ and we seem to have lost our way in finding meaningful relationships. True friends are very few and far between.

In life we are meant to be sociable characters, meeting new people, making adventures, travelling and entertaining. We meet many new faces along the way but some are meant to come and go, some teach us lessons and some help us out when we are in need. But not all of them are destined to stay with us forever. Each new chapter in our book brings different meanings to our lives. Our true friends and meaningful relationships will last through to the end. Understanding this will help us move forward from unhealthy or toxic relationships and hold on to significant and purposeful connections whether they are virtual or real.

Fewer friends, less drama, keep your circle small. Unknown

Find your Happy Place - Not Just Pleasing others

Do what makes you happy. There are no truer words spoken. Happiness comes from within which means you are not here for the sake of another’s happiness.

This sounds harsh and selfish but in fact, this is similar to self care. You cannot make others happy or comfortable if you are miserable or unhappy yourself. People sometimes misunderstand this concept. ‘I thought this would make you happy’ or ‘I thought you enjoyed this type of thing’. Other people’s perception of our happiness may not be in line with our own. Make sure you are not ‘joining in’ just to please others.

Spending time on your own to enjoy activities that bring you pleasure and peace are just as important as a night out socialising with friends. This could be a hobby, sports activity, walking in nature, reading a book or meditating. Make sure you have time for your own enjoyment.

If they don’t need you, it’s okay, you do not live for other people. Unknown

Keep it simple.....Eat healthily with less fuss

We are what we eat. A good healthy and nutritious diet will feed and nurture our bodies. Eating simple food using natural herbs and spices to add flavour is all we need on a daily basis. Just like the life we desire….keep it simple. Balance your portions and to make life even easier, prepare your food for the week ahead. There are lots of food prep ideas online to entice your taste buds and starting from scratch with your preparation will automatically change your diet into a much healthier version.

There are various diets to suit your lifestyle that are healthy and nutritious, it is just a case of finding the diet that suits you best. Check out this blog post..... The Best Diet for you

Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments. Bethenny Frankel

Exchange your Overly Busy Life for Clean and Simple Living

For some weird reason? If we are not busy then we try to fill our days with more chores but why? I think this is the new modern world where you have to be super occupied otherwise you feel you have to justify your spare time. But this is mainly to yourself?

Relaxation is vital for our well-being and we do need to free up some of our time to dedicate to unwinding. One of the biggest time consuming activities we are now faced with is screen time.  Across all devices, the average Internet user aged 16 to 64 spends six hours and 58 minutes online per day. A lot of this time is just spent scrolling down our screens.

Try to cut back as much as you can or just set a certain time period to check your social media platforms. Uninstall unwanted apps or install apps on just one device preferably not your phone. It is very easy to constantly look at your mobile if all your apps are on your home screen.

If you like a ‘to do’ list then limit your tasks to 5 a day or only the important stuff that needs to be completed that day. Another time wasting activity is your inbox. Unsubscribe from anything you do not read. Holding them in your inbox until you have a moment to read them is just adding to all the other jobs you have to do in the day. If you don’t read it…..unsubscribe.

Trade your busy life for a full one. Courtney Carver

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