Sometimes everything can seem like too much. A longing for simplicity arises, the kind that is chosen . . . the kind that is doing less and being more.
Phrases Posted on Facebook, December 2022
When we feel overwhelmed, choosing what to do feels nearly impossible. Everything appears to be of equal importance, and if we choose anything, everything else doesn’t get chosen. We feel stuck and stymied. The simplest thing is to ask for help to sort things out. That’s a first step. Ask someone to listen, and as you describe the whole mess, you’ll start to see the situation from another perspective. You won’t be in the middle of the mess. You’ve taken a little distance when you name the challenges. Being witnessed has that kind of influence on us. Ask for a kind ear. It’s amazing how many such ears exist.
My last post was about not seeing the forest for all the trees. Caught in all that complexity, it’s good to ask for help . . . a first step towards simplicity. What then is next? Perhaps it is to ask ourselves what is most important for the situation at hand or to ask what is most important for us? They could be the same so to ask what Love would do may combine the questions. We are never wrong to choose the loving way. The choice is sure to open a little path through the forest.
One thing at a time is the golden rule of simplicity. Multi-tasking is a skill, but it is at the cost of a rushed life that leaves little room for savoring what is happening. We’re on the express train with no stops that can let us out find a garden and smell the roses.
Keep it simple stupid is a phrase most of us have heard. Why speak to ourselves in the pejorative? How about, keep it simple sister or son? Or better yet, how about Keep It Simple Sweetheart? That’s like a kiss! A kissing way is not to be sneered at.
From time to time it’s good to quietly acknowledge what is true about our experience, to know how it is for us and how we feel about it. We can then savor it or take a small, next step to improve the condition. Better yet we can do both. Such simple moments of acknowledgement build our capacity to live fully.
Deep down we know what would best serve us. We let go of the lesser for that which not only best expresses us, but also adds to the community. To listen with our hearts is a simple step (not easy). Done frequently enough it will become an embodied habit and will radiate goodness to others.
There is a simple thing to do that makes a world of difference. Taught by the beloved
Fred Rogers, it is to give ourselves fully as a kind and interested witness to whomever we are talking to and thereby letting them know that they matter.
Why not tell the simple truth? When you are afraid, admit it. Even when you are furious, try to act from an inner sense of dignity. When you love, lay yourself bare. The truth will set us free.
Speaking of simplicity, here’s my favorite quote from Meister Eckhart: If the only prayer you said was thank you that would be enough.
Do one simple thing today for someone else and know you are doing it essentially for yourself.
Why not with simplicity of heart receive one gift experience fully. If done day by day we will come to know how amazingly gifted we are.
Stating a common truth, simple isn’t simple. BUT maybe we get a feel for it when a restful feeling descends on us as we chose something that feels right and is kind to us and to others.
Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free. So goes the wonderful Shaker song.
Choosing simplicity as often as possible makes us freer and we come round where we ought to be. Let’s chose it more in the years to come.
