Looking Out My Back Window #80

Originally posted on Facebook HERE

I’m starting to see why there’s a saying out there that says “less is more”. I’ve been reading and recommending Simplify Magazine to anyone who would listen since their inception. Today, in issue number 7, I read an article called “Sometimes you can’t move forward until you take a step back” by Jay Harrington. Fantastic. Then I started a book that was recommended in a prior article in the same issue (issue #7 is the “overcoming busy” issue, dealing with the trap of busyness) called Essentialism: The disciplined pursuit of less, by Greg McKeown. In the introduction to the issue, Simplify magazine says: “the lives we end up living keep us from the lives we truly want”. I remember that line well from early on in my recovery program years ago. My counselor said to the group: “think about your ideal life, who you want to be, what you want to do, how you want to treat people, where you want to live… now, think about where you’re actually at. Are they close? If not, why not? And what can you do about it?”… At the time I was light years from where I wanted to be, and the reason I was so far off was easy to see – it was my addictions. But so many of us aren’t living the life of our dreams, and it has nothing to do with alcohol or drug issues. And I’m not talking about the life of our pipe-dreams, either – living in a castle with servants at our beck and call – I’m just talking about things like: do you wake up and look forward to your day? Are you doing enough of the things that stir your heart? Because we can get so caught up making a living, putting in overtime, saying yes to everything that comes up, then wondering why we said yes at all, and filling our lives and our days with stuff… that we don’t ever take the time to look at what’s really important and design our lives and time around that. The less stuff we have, both physically and mentally, the more space we have to fill with whatever we see as truly essential to our well being and happiness. I admit I like to keep almost everything. So, the idea of simplifying and decluttering my belongings, my mind, and my work environment comes with some trepidation. And a great deal of excitement as well. Because I really think for me this is an idea whose time has come. If I could only fit it into my schedule…

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