Living Simply
Sometime after college I began, as many of us did, to work at two speeds: faster and fastest. I moved at this pace from 5.30 in the morning until seven or eight o’clock at night for more year than I care to count. But now the time has come to look back the forty plus one years of fast track professional career which is coming to an end.
In addition to my time consuming careers, I had all other duties and responsibilities associated with maintaining my life, as a son to my parents, a brother to my siblings, a good husband to my wife, an adorable father to my daughter and son.
I looked at the time management system as though I were seeing for the first time, all of a sudden a sudden bulb went on ! I always enjoyed my work all these years and now the time has come to engage myself with people other than colleagues; and places other than work place. I am craving for time so long for social activities , spiritual focus, helping hand to the needy , be alone with the sound of silence, deeply plunge into my library, spend time with nature and so many favorite activities.
I decided to start living to my expectations after my permanent retirement. But the question sparked in my mind is ‘ how to live?’ . My thought is for a simple living only though many around me advices to live a joyous life by visiting children in abroad, own a car and enjoy the richness of modern times entertainment gadgets . This is not the way I want to live. Though I think that I am leading a simple life, I do not know that how simple I am . The meaning of Living simply is different to people to people.
I wish to explore what simple living means to different people and look at what complicates our lives, what we can eliminate, and ways we can play the game differently.
I read in a book that Barbra Streisand simplified her life by getting rid of five of her seven houses and her Tiffany lamp collection. For someone it means moving to a smaller home and simply live differently in the space we have. I presume that I fit in the later one. Many many things make life complicated for us. So I sought for a self-help book and my eyes caught a book “ Living The Simple Life “ by Elaine St.James , in my own library. It was there for quite some years safely unturned by me.
It was like a ‘ Geetha ‘ to me to live simply or living the simple life. I wish to bring out few good things to the readers on living the simple life and I too wish to follow for the remaining life.
First look into what we can eliminate. Put it in a list and you may find it runs to pages. But we can neither dispose nor selectively avoid .
Remember a time when you were truly happy and be willing to change the way you play the game. It’s sometimes difficult to know where to draw the line but you have to start thinking about ways you could simplify .
Escape to a quiet spot
Do whatever you do to find a space that will work for you. It is possible that this time will be for you, a major turning point in the way you live your life. It will be fun for you to be able to look back on this time and space fondly, and with sweet memories. I found such a space in Chennai , Vasantha Vihar - J.Krishnamurthy Foundation, R.A.Puram
Reexamine your list of goals
Keeping lists can be beneficial in terms of helping us figure out what’s important. But you may have to reconsider and cut your lists back to more realistic proportions. Your job of simplifying may be easier than you thought.
Remember that relationships take time
If you are in a relationship or have children, these no doubt to be a top priority. Devote some of your new found free time to your nearest and dearest.
Learn to make good choices
The need to make wise choices encompasses every area of our lives. Since we have only a limited amount of time to spend with family and friends or to engage in leisure activities, we need to choose our friends and our activities wisely.
Keep asking , “ Is this going to simplify my life?”
Get into the habit of asking yourself. “ Is this going to simplify my life?” every time you considered a potential purchase or changing your domicile or even a change to your routine.This is a powerful weapon in the ongoing battle against the complications of modern life.
Never touch a piece of mail more than once
Learning to handle mails only once ranks high on the list of steps to keep the clutter to a minimum. It is better to take decisions on the spot as to what to keep, the more you toss into the recycling bin, and the less stuff you have to file.
Use your public library
Public libraries are for most people easy and readily available solution for all kind of reading stuff with limitless variety. Libraries also supply a practical way to offload the stacks of your own books and audio- and videotapes that are cluttering your environment. It’s hard to do that for me but it is good to get simpler .
When you bring in something new throw out something old
It’s a basic concept and it works well unless you practice it. I have experience with furniture, refrigerators, television, gas stoves, radios and tape-recorders etc. It also applies to cloths, books, toys, shoes, computers, telephones, eyeglasses, umbrellas, towels etc. You can simply enjoy the freedom of uncluttered spaces.
Learning to say no
The social pressure to automatically say yes to invitations is a challenging one to overcome. For some fortunate people this is not a problem. But for many the inability to graciously decline an invitation, or to stop doing all the things they feel they should do, is a major complication. By saying no you’re going to be making a lot of changes in the way you spend your time.
Follow great personalities who lived simply
There are one thousand and more ways in many books. Let us read scriptures and see people who lived simply and achieved great goals like freedom to India by Mahatma Gandhiji. Many simple lived persons exhibited their talent and knowledge by simple ways to the entire world. Even some Billionaires living simple lifestyles in this world which may not be known to all. Let us start living a simple life to be happy forever.
