sim·ple: adjective
1. easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty.
Presenting no difficulty. Shouldn’t life include more things with this promise?
Life isn’t simple. There are billions of options, billions of variables. I recently found myself with a group of women. We were all talking about what we want and our big goals. It was near the beginning of the year. It was resolution time. There was a lot of pressure to be better. Each woman seemed to pulsate with the urge to better herself. Projects were being formulated. Commitments were being made. The general theme was, this year, I will do more and be better.
Suddenly, it was my turn to talk. All eyes were on me. They eyes were full of anticipation. I have a reputation for taking on big self-improvement challenges. Time to wow. UGH. I felt tired. I surprised myself by saying, “I just want less.” The group stared back with blank and confused looks. “Ok. Can you be more specific?” “I have so many great things, people, projects in my life. I have too many. I have too many opportunities. Too much that I want. Too many things I could go do, experience. There are too many great people to get to know. I love it but it’s crushing me. I can’t keep up. I just want less.”
Reading the definition of simplicity, presenting no difficulty, nailed what I want. I want things to be easy and enjoyable. I don’t want to scramble and struggle to keep up. I want less so that the difficulty is removed. I want things to be simple.
Judging by the reaction of the women in the group, I can say, this isn’t easily understood by most people. I could have told these women, I want a baby, the perfect job, to foster more friendships on a weekly basis, to have a perfectly decorated and organized home and to have abs that would make J Lo weep with envy. Everyone would have supported me and helped me map out a plan or attack.
To say, I have enough. Actually, I have too much at this point. I want things to be simpler. I want a life with less difficulty. This is shocking to people. Well, glaciers are melting. Resources are disappearing. Stress is on the rise. Space is becoming limited. We are doing more and feeling worse. Do you agree? Are you with me? Could you use more simplicity and less of everything else? Do you just want the good stuff? Do you want what is most important? Do you like the idea of one really great chocolate truffle instead of a bag of Red Vines?
Am I alone in this? I know I’m not. I know there is a large and growing group of people out there who just want simple, beautiful, and easy to manage lives. People who want to live their lives in their wheelhouse/Wheelhaus. I’m happy to be here with you. Cheers to simplicity. Let’s make it easy.