Let Simplicity Be Your Guide

Think about the great things in your life. Go ahead, pause and be silent and think long and hard about the good things in your world. Please actually pause and reflect before you keep reading.

Our best days and the great things in our lives usually involve feelings, emotions, and how we were treated. It is the people who love and loved us as we are and did not try to control us. It is the opportunities we have and had to make a difference by making one person’s life or the lives of many people better. It is when we have experienced comfort, joy, peace and love that stand out as special times we will always savor. In many of those instances we were astonished and amazed that some simple act on our part, or by simply being ourselves, wonder and amazement entered our life which would change us forever. The impact of a simple gesture, kindness and love towards anyone makes us believe and understand that life doesn’t have to be complicated and frazzled. The best things in life are simple. It is the simple things we will remember and which endure.

So what does that tell us about how we live our lives day to day? The family events that are over orchestrated when in reality eating a meal while laughing at humorous events is enough to solidify multigenerational relationships. The corporate retreats with flashing lights and busy schedules, when in reality it is the conversations and meaningful ideas that the team will savor for years to come. And then there are the Facebook posts, instagram photos and online videos we spend hours viewing, when in reality it is BEING in those pictures or places that matter most not the posting itself.

So what can we change and simplify in order to make what is great even greater? What can be broken down and taken apart by doing it with simplicity? And how can we choose everyday to focus on the important, simple things rather than the complicated, over engineered elements the world wants us to think are important? It means being able to stop, pause and reflect. (Which I hope you did at the beginning of this post!) When we do that we are able to truly see the great and important people, places and things in our lives…which then helps us focus on the good and great not the flashy and mediocre. For in the end, it is not the stuff that matters, it is the people. If we do not slow down, simplify and invest in the relationships in our lives they will fall away and our greatest blessings will be lost.

Let me encourage you to reflect often about the people in your life and then act with simplicity in keeping those relationships strong. The best times are the simple times. No need to over plan or over complicate, let simplicity be your guide.