Thursday, January 13, 2011

My New Simple Life



There has never been an age in which we could get so much done so quickly. There has also never been an age in which we were so overwhelmed with information and tasks, and I am feeling it this week for sure! For many people these days, work is a constant stream of emails, instant messages, notes, and files. We are drinking from a fire hose of information, with no idea how to reduce the flow.

Some very personal, yet life-changing goals are going to be incremented into my life this year. As I continue to evaluate my life and priorities, I am realizing how stressful and wasteful all of this can become. So, as the journey begins to reshape some aspects of my life, like being able to concentrate on meaningful projects and not just "urgent" ones! I need to make some hard choices. I bet you do too...

What is the alternative to information and task overload? In order to make this better, do I have to follow the example of Thoreau, and build a cabin in the woods? Not for the WHOLE year. So, I am proposing a middle ground for myself this year. The solution lies in setting limits to how much I consume and do. It lies in making the most of time by focusing on the important things, instead of everything. I don't know about you, but the canvas of my life has been cluttered a bit too much with bolds and not enough pastels. Only I can choose to change what I will stress over, and what I will not. Finally, the day has come, and I can already sense the peace just from making up my mind about it.

The answer comes from living a life of..................

Simplicity. I am becoming a firm believer in it. My life is better when I simplify it. Those who love me and are close to me recognize my stress, and they also know when I am walking in simplicity. It's when I cut down the noise and I am able to enjoy what I do.

I could write all day on how the Holy Spirit is revealing these things to me. I plan to do less, not more. Amp up what is important, and let go what seems useless in the big picture. One man wrote, "why go to battle if there are no spoils?" Applying that is already beginning to make me much happier, less stressed, and perhaps surprisingly, more productive. God gives the revelation, but I have to implement it.

Simplicity, for me, boils down to two things I MUST do this year:

1. Identify the essential
2. Eliminate the rest

Join me on this, and this time next year you won't look so grouchy....(that is, when I look in the mirror) :)

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