How You Can Simplify Your Life and Make it a Habit

One of my spiritual principles is using simplicity to clear out my channel to God. Clearing out the things I am no longer using helps me to find clarity. One of my favorite prayers is: “Thank you God for helping me to understand that this problem has already been solved for me.”  

Simplifying your life: Why less is more–

“We’ve done the binge thing for awhile; now it’s time to do the purge thing. Most of us have a tremendous amount of excess. Too many expenses, too much stuff, too many commitments and responsibilities.  Do you dream of calm over chaos? Do you wish you could hit a button and be transformed to the tranquility of another era? You can create an oasis of peace for yourself and your family, but you’re going to have to relearn what it means to simplify as I bust the top three myths about the subject over the next month.”

Time to simplify and de-junkify–

I” now realize I didn’t need to be better organized (although organizing the stuff you truly need isn’t a bad thing), I needed to get rid of stuff and stop buying things I don’t need.  Of course, deep down I think I knew that answer all along, but that’s a tough pill to swallow.  It’s hard to explain the mind-shift that I’m having right now about consumerism, but it’s almost as if  someone grabbed me about the shoulders and shook me back to reality.  It’s about time to start living more simply.”

5 simple steps to clearing the clutter (painlessly)–

“Keeping your surroundings tidy and organized might sound like a chore, but it’s actually one of the best ways to obtain peace of mind and a calmer outlook on life. Here’s how to make tidying and decluttering as painless as possible.”

5 creative ways to upsize your life by downsizing–

“I like to say that downsizing will upsize your life.  I know it sounds catchy, but it’s true.  Since my husband and I started downsizing over 4 years ago we have more money, time, and opportunity than I could have ever imagined.  There is no way we’d be planning a trip around the world if we were still weighed down with all the miscellaneous stuff we had acquired over the years.”

Super easy ways to filter info and declutter your mind–

“We are basically slaves to our own technological advancement and it doesn’t look any rosier in the future. In fact, the number of data sources available to you today will only continue to grow (and at an increasing rate)!”

“If you want to break out from the cycle of mental stress you need to find ways to declutter your mind and filter what you allow in.Every single day we are exposed to millions of tiny bytes of information. Fact is, without a filter you’re forcing your brain to absorb, understand, digest, and store it. I mean really, that’s a tall order – even for the human brain.”

“Decluttering your mind starts with your intent – you need to WANT to make changes first before you can address the imbalance. “

Living with less: 8 reasons to embrace the simple life–by Carole Fogarty:

1. A satisfying lifestyle becomes your priority
2. You now value the gift of time
3. Your stuff no longer demands your attention
4. Achieve more with less
5. The law of diminishing returns
6. Reduces money stress
7. Your self worth is no longer connected to the stuff you have accumulated
8. Conscious consumption

Following Your Flow, Getting Enough Sleep and Being an Inspired Person

Arinna Huffington is finishing her drive to promote getting enough sleep. Oftentimes when we are busy, we slip into a sleep-deprived life style. Most new parents fall into this habit. But it can long term pressure to a marriage or work life. In ending her Sleep Challenge 2010, she writes:

“I also learned how valuable it is to talk to people about sleep. It’s as though you are enlisting the world around you in helping you meet your goal. Not only did people share with me their sleep tips, but having people constantly ask me if I was getting enough sleep or making sure I wasn’t drinking coffee after noon or staying up past my scheduled bed time were a wonderful safeguard against falling into old, bad habits.”

“You don’t have to write about your sleep experiences twice a week and publish them on HuffPost and Glamour to get the same benefits. Tell your friends and family about your sleep goals — put it out there — and watch how many “sleep angels” start looking out for you and holding you to your sleep commitment. It’s like a Field of Sweet Dreams: build it, and they will come (to tuck you in).”

Learning and maintaining a commitment to make our sleeping important to our life will add passion and drive. Our passion is increased once we allow ourselves to believe that our dream may be possible. I love helping people so I am open to anything that will help me fill this need. Because of my letting go of old beliefs about myself, I have been freed up to work toward a movement that will enable the people I care about to join together.

Our passion comes from following our flow. Flow has been explained by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. He describes our flow as that feeling of joy when we are doing something we love to do and are doing it effortlessly. Some athletes call it being in the zone.

Writing in her blog, Joyful Days, Daphne offers us a challenge to choose one of the following proven ways to living  a happy life:

1. Believe in something
2. Embrace silence
3. Work on your own terms
4. Find your “flow” experience
5. Have something to look forward to
6. Hang out with friends
7. Just carry on living

Many people believe that aren’t creative. Yet few of them schedule creativity. Creativity is an art and a science. You can find your creativity by making it a goal. Schedule time to spend searching and exploring your “flow” activity. Remember creativity is playing and enjoying what you do in your creativity time.

James Chartrand (who is really a woman) writing in Fuel Your Writing about how to learn the skill of being inspired suggests during the following to find your flow:

1. Explore new experiences  ”
2. Ask people about themselves
3. Bring a notebook