The Simple Life...Letting Go of Control

This has been a year of exploring what it means to live a simple life. Gone is the need to keep up with, or compete, with anyone. I'm working on the need to please people. I'm a life-long pleaser, and this one has been more difficult.

My search for simplicity has been a process of self-examination in learning how to let go of certain things, while clinging to others. Living in the country has helped me sort out the truly necessary from the trivial habits I've made for myself. I need quiet and margin in my life to achieve simplicity, and I can see the fruit of changing my way of living.

One of the most profound, yet simple actions, has been surrendering control over things I can't change. I'm not necessarily a worrier, but I do tend to project the end result of any number of issues..."if this happens, then this will probably follow," scenario. My brain creates all kinds of stories that will more than likely never happen; a recipe for stress.

I'm learning to accept life as it happens and leave the future, in the future. There are few things we ultimately have control over, and letting everything else go has brought peace.

There was a time I was so addicted to Major League Baseball, I'd get up in the middle of the night to check the scores. My heart would pound as I waited for the Atlanta Braves score to scroll across the bottom of my television. This was in the days before smart phones and instant everything. There wasn't a dad gum thing I could do about it but my anxiety level didn't comprehend that fact.

The weather, the economy, American politics, and especially certain people in my life will never be in my control. My responsibility is to love those I come into contact with, care for my family and home, and live every day in a way that pleases my heavenly Father. It's also my responsibility to use the gifts and talents I've been given to share my faith and point people to Jesus. Beyond that, I'm free to live simply; sit on the porch with a cup of tea, invite friends to share a meal, plant flowers and watch them grow, or serve the needs of others.

The possibilities are endless when you let go of the need to control. I recognize I will struggle with this because of wanting everyone to be happy. However, taking the first step in realizing this is not my job has brought freedom.

Each of us are responsible for how we choose to act or react to the people in our lives. And this, dear friends, is one of the secrets to my simple life.

2018...A Search for Simplicity

Can it be a new year already? Seems like we just celebrated the Fourth of July holiday, then put up the Christmas tree the next day. Maybe I fell into an autumn coma from too much pumpkin spice. However it happened, 2018 is here.

The last couple of years I've been focusing on improving daily living. 2017's theme of Rest, Renewal, and Repurposing kept me aware of how I was living in the day to day, picture window of life. At any given moment of the year those three words reminded me to prioritize the disciplines that keep me healthy in mind, body, and spirit. Glancing back over 2017, there were more successes than failures.

I love the turn of the calendar from one year to the next. Being a recovering perfectionist, this gives me an opportunity for do-overs. Maybe you can relate.

These days life is lived at warp speed and my DNA doesn't register speed, except when I'm behind the wheel of my car. My brain is designed to think, ponder, then think some more. Our culture has adapted to insta everything, a struggle for me.

There have been years where I questioned my purpose after the nest emptied. I thought life was hollow without children in and out on a daily basis. God has shown me, in His time, how wrong I was and how He'd like my days spent.

My pattern for most of my adult life was to immerse myself in activities and ministries because there was a need. Before I could even think the words, "what have I done?" life was out of control.

Our life is frittered away by detail...Simplify, simplify." 

Henry David Thoreau

I'm worn from the speed and intensity of our present culture. As this new year begins to take shape, the word simplicity keeps landing in a place of importance. What does this mean for me and my family?

The root of the word simplicity is simple. Meriam-Webster gave several definitions, but the one I connected with says: The state of being simple, uncomplicated, or uncompounded.

These quotes, found in The New American Roget's College Thesauarus, capture the essence of simplicity.

"Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity." 

Plato

How much simpler our lives would be if our choices for living were based on beauty of style, harmony, grace, and good rhythm. The flow of the words alone cause my heart to slow, my brain to relax, and the anxious thoughts in my mind to come up for air. 

My soul craves time for simple, uncomplicated connection with God and those around me. I long for days of boredom. The best me I can give in service is the me who comes from a simple, uncomplicated life. I'm all about purpose and achievement, but not at the expense of my soul. At the end of the day, if I've poured out my life in pursuit of the standard of the world, my soul will be empty. A simple life allows me time to soak in the beauty, harmony and grace of the One who made me. Without the rhythm of life he designed me to flourish in, life is complicated and full of uncertainty.

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." 
                                                                    Albert Einstein

2018, I look forward to finding simplicity in the unexpected moments, the stolen blocks of time, and the joy of living out His purpose for me.