SIMPLE STEPS TO LIVING SIMPLY

 In character, in manners, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity. Author Unknown. 

I've read many books about "how to simplify," "living simply", "simplicity", but after reading some of them it sometimes felt overwhelming and not at all simple to get to the point of Living Simply. I was looking for a way to simplify my life but in small baby steps because it is, after all, a lifestyle, not a one and done event. These are things I"ll need to be doing for the rest of my life! 

Basically I was looking to  create new daily habits that would automatically create a simple life. So I tried breaking things down into doable baby steps to make "Living Simply", well, simpler!  

When you create new daily habits, your brain is being rewired to eventually continue these new habits automatically without thinking about them. Neuroscientists say that it takes 20-30 days to create a new habit. So if you were to intentionally create new daily habits, after 20-30 days it would become automatically wired into your brain as a lifestyle habit that you won't have to think about. Think about some habits you have now that you don't think about. Simple things you do every day without thinking. Do you have habits around brushing your teeth, making your bed, combing your hair? You don't think about them nor have to force yourself to do them, its just a part of your lifestyle...what you do every day. 

Just as you created those habits, you can create habits around living simply. You don't have to create them all at one time. Just choose what habits you will create first and after you have that habit mastered go on to another one. Some of you may want to create more than one new habit at a time but you don't have to.

Here are some baby steps you can take that will help you to Live Simply. I have broken them down into 5 categories to be able to work on all areas of your life. 

1) Your Mind

      Keeping your mind focused and in the moment will help you to live simply. If you work on keeping your thoughts focused instead of wandering "will nilly" you won't be feeling so overwhelmed. It takes practice but makes a huge difference. Focus on what you are doing in the MOMENT!  

2) Your Space

        Begin to take baby steps to clean out the clutter. But take it in small steps as in maybe one drawer at a time. Even one little step like that will motivate you to take another baby step. 

3) Your Time

         Decide what is important to you and what your values are. Then begin so say no to anything that does not fit your values. You may need to stop doing some things that don't fit your values also.

4) Your Relationships

          Make a list of the important people in your life that you want to keep growing your relationships with: family, close friends, and others. 

5) Volunteering/Giving Back

          It is important to reach out and do things for others in a meaningful way. Although you shouldn't stop ministering to others, make sure your time spent is meaningful and maybe even involves working with your family doing for others so the family time isn't sacrificed.

I know these are just little simple samplings of "to dos" and I'll flesh out more on each item later. But this is a start! It's important to just take baby steps with your new simplified life! Give yourself time to breathe during your day!

Happy August and Keep It Simple!

Sandy

THE JOY OF SIMPLICITY

 Dear God, our life is beautiful

In every splendid gift it brings,

But most I thank thee humbly for 

The JOY of little things.  L M Montgomery.              

While on the journey to discover your simple life, it helps to find simple pleasures to enjoy yourself. Think of things you enjoy doing that cost little or no money. Make a list of them. Consider the different seasons and what different seasonal things there are to enjoy.

I'll share a few simple pleasures to help you get started:

1) Take a walk in the woods

2) Go on a picnic

3) Go bird watching

4) Bake something and share with a friend

5) Spend quality time with a friend or family member

6) Enjoy a good book

7) Call and talk to a friend you haven't seen in a long time

8) Go to the Library and read some magazines

9) Sit down with a cup of coffee, tea, or your favorite beverage and enjoy a quiet moment

10) Make a card to give encouragement to someone and send it

11) In the Fall, enjoy making s'mores with your family

12) Make Carmel Corn

13) Sit and listen to your favorite music

14) Plan a potluck with friends for dinner

15) Indulge yourself with a good movie on TV and a bowl of popcorn

There is a large measure of JOY in ordinary moments.   Susan Gale Wickes

Now come up with your own ideas. Write them down ( in a journal ) to remember them and keep adding to them. Decide this week to really enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Really intentionally embrace these moments. Don't be thinking of things you need to do. Don't let busy-ness get in your way. Just taking a bit of time during the week to enjoy a few simple pleasures is so important.

ENJOY!

Sandy

LIVING SIMPLY IS AN INSIDE JOB

Your mind is a garden...Your thoughts are the seeds...you can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.  Anonymous

Living simply begins in your thoughts. In fact, ALL things begin as thoughts. Recent studies suggest that the average person has 6,000 thoughts per day. Many of these thoughts are subconscious thoughts so you're not really aware of them on a conscious level. Nevertheless these thoughts are powerful enough to create your life. 

If you want to create a life of "Living Simply" it will have to begin in your thoughts. You will need to intentionally choose to create a "Simple Life". But it doesn't stop there. Your previous thought pattern may get in the way without you realizing it. In a way, you're going to have to reprogram your mind to think differently. 

Oprah had a show attempting to help a woman who was a hoarder. She brought in a team of experts to help declutter, clean, sanitize, and then truly transform her home into a beautiful, clean, uncluttered space. Then they showed her how to maintain her home to keep it in the same ordered way. Sometime later, they checked back with her to see how she was doing. Her home once again had become a cluttered pile of filth, junk, and garbage. Clearly it was more than her space that needed to be decluttered. And I say this with sincere empathy as this is a horrible way to have to live.

I'm sure we all realize that hoarding is a mental health illness. And while I cannot go in depth into the scope of this illness, it illustrates an extreme example of how our mental health, our inner thoughts and thinking can determine our outer life, how we live. 

While most of us will probably  not have a hoarding issue, our lives can become unmanageable or complicated through how we think.

A cluttered mind becomes a cluttered life.

You need to be planting seeds of the life you want to live. You  need to plant, water, nurture, and care for those thoughts just as you would care for your  flowers. If you are not intentional in this, then your life will continue as it has. And that's OK too if you are content with your life.  But if you want to change and create a life that is simpler, less complicated and more joy filled, you will need to be intentional about what you think. There's an old saying that says, " If you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got."

Maybe the "Simple Life" is far from what your life is right now. Or maybe you're almost there and you just need more encouragement to keep on keeping  on. Either way I hope these ideas will help you on your journey to a more contented lifestyle. 

So how do you begin to do this? 

It helps to begin with a journal. Go out and buy an inexpensive pretty journal that will help to motivate you to begin this journey. Because it is a journey, a lifestyle. Make a decision that this is the first day of the rest of your life to "Living Simply". 

To begin this journal...

 1) Make a list of what you would like your simple life to look like. Look back at this post DISCOVERING THE SIMPLE LIFE and this post SIMPLIFYING YOUR LIFE to gain some ideas and thoughts about what you want out of this "Simple Life". You might want to write it in the present tense in a descriptive style to help you really feel its impact. If you feel creative you can doodle some ideas in your journal. ( Umm, OK, I don't know why those two post links are different.. : )

2) Next make a list of your priorities in life. 

3) Then begin to write in your journal all the quotes on living simply that you find here. Add to this your own thoughts and hopes of a Simpler Lifestyle.

4) Look at this journal in the morning and in the evening to begin to plant the seeds in your mind of this new life you want to live. 

Of this be sure: you do not FIND the happy life, you MAKE it. Thomas S Monson

KEEP IT SIMPLE!  : )

Sandy

DISCOVERING THE SIMPLE LIFE

What is Simple Living?

      Simple Living is...

...focusing on what matters to you most

....eliminating non-essentials

...finding joy in the common activities of daily living

...creating space in your life for divine interruptions

...learning to live in the moment

...enjoying clean uncluttered and organized spaces

...doing less and finding it more

...creating a life that leaves room to breathe

...letting go of ego

...living in the present

...letting go of what you can't control

...being intentional

...knowing God

...enjoying the moments in your life

...celebrating life's simple moments

...enjoying the simple pleasures of life

...a mindset

...slowing down

...a lifestyle

...having an uncluttered mind

...a life-long journey

...creating a home of simple beauty

...a gift you give yourself 

...a gift you give your family

...a gift for your mind, body, and spirit

...surrendering 

...becoming aware

...breathing in and breathing out

...living wisely

AND SO MUCH MORE!!!

In the next several posts I'm going to share how I have discovered, in simple steps, how to LIVE SIMPLY in this complicated world. I hope you'll join me.

One Moment At A Time,

Sandy

 

SIMPLIFYING YOUR LIFE

 Simplicity is ultimately a matter of focus. Ann Voskamp

Imagine what a simple life might look like...

Your mind is uncluttered as you live in the moment, noticing and enjoying the everyday simple pleasures in life...a beautiful red cardinal singing in a tree, new plants just springing forth from the Spring ground, the laughter of children and babies, the warmth of the sun, the beauty of color all around, rainbows after a rain, sunsets. You  enjoy and are grateful for such beauty in the world and you feel blessed just to be alive! You embrace each day with eagerness and anticipation, offering thanks for this new day!

                                         You can even enjoy the beauty of a winter day.

Your home is neat and tidy, not perfect but comfortable and inviting. It is filled with a wonderful scent and the warmth of candles. Flowers just picked from the garden grace a table. Everything is in its place and you can easily find what you want. There is no excess clutter so your home feels relaxed and welcoming. Your home is simple yet lovely with treasures that are important to you and that you love. Looking around, your home makes you smile and you feel content.

Your day is calm and unhurried. There is time for the important things in your life like spending time with family. And time for sharing with others, even if it's a simple smile and greeting. You even have time for relaxing a bit and enjoying yourself. You even have time for a spontaneous visit with a neighbor! You work together as a family in meal preparation and enjoy a relaxed and simple meal together. You have learned to balance the activities in your life so that you are not "too busy".

You don't feel the desire for more "stuff" as you have learned to be content and enjoy the things you have. Your focus is on relationships, giving of yourself, and experiences as opposed to having "stuff". You have learned that the best things in life are free. You don't feel the need to be always wanting "more".You are appreciating the little things in life that are the most important and your life is focused more and more on your priorities and values rather than accumulating more and being too busy.

Does this sound good to you? Or are you thinking, "this would NEVER be able to happen in my life"?Would you LIKE this to be more of a description of your life and home? Well, it can be, at least in part, if you are intentional and focused on making it happen. Obviously not EVERY DAY is going to be like this. Life happens. Things come up that are out of your control. But you can design your life to be closer to this scenario than it is now. And you can have more days like this than you thought possible.

In the first three paragraphs I described the ideals of living simply as it relates to your mind ( enjoying the simple pleasures in life), the stuff and spaces in your home  ( decluttering ), and your time and priorities ( relationships vs. stuff ). 

If you're interested in learning more, keep following along for ideas on how to design a life that you'll love...a more simple and serene life!

We are always getting ready to to live but never living. Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Sandy

LIVING SIMPLY...FIRST STEPS

           The simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace. A persistent simplification will create an inner and outer well being that places harmony in one's life. Peace Pilgrim

 

In my last post I talked about Living Simply. But really what does that mean? It can mean different things to different people as I mentioned in that post. But my question is, " What does Living Simply mean to YOU?"

Is it about downsizing to a smaller living situation? Decluttering and just getting rid of stuff?  Finding more time in your life by cutting back on your activities and obligations? More serenity and calm in your life?  An uncluttered mind? Or maybe it's all of the above.

Some of these areas may not be right for you at the moment, such as downsizing. Maybe this is not the right time for you to move to a smaller living situation. And that's OK. One size doesn't fit all in the case of Living Simply. But you might want to think about which of these areas fits your idea of simple living right now. 

My first step in the process of wanting to live a simpler lifestyle was to take the step listed below.
It helps to find a comfortable place to sit with maybe coffee or tea nearby. Get relaxed and ready to begin clarifying what you really want/desire in your life. Get a new notebook, nothing fancy, but it helps to begin with a nice fresh notebook, and pen or pencil. Now you're ready!

You are going to make three lists: 

1) Make a list of your priorities
2) Make a list of your values
3) Make a list of your passions

The reason for this listing is because when your values, priorities, and passions are clear in your mind,  you are then free to release whatever is in your life that does not uphold them. They are easier to let go of when you have this clarity. You can then release more clutter in your home, more activities in your day, and be intentional as to where you put your focus. Ann Voskamp, author and blogger says, "Simplicity is ultimately a matter of focus."

Begin to think about what this list means to you and what is in your life right now. Are you spending time with things not on your list? Are you accumulating unnecessary items in your home? How much time do you spend with things on your "Priorities List"? Does your life seem to match up with the list you made?  As you begin to think about this list and your life right now some things will stand out glaringly and others will need to be looked at a bit closer. Take some time to compare your list with how you are living your life. It may seem like too much "work" if you're not a "list maker" but it really helps to do this before you get started creating your Simple Life.

And while you're at it, check out these items now listed in our Etsy Shop, Gwen And Alma's here!