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Simple living flies in the face of the common values of the Western world.
Living simply entails stripping away the nonessential and focusing your time and energy on the things that matter the most.
Extravagance is often a picture of an unsatisfied life.
When you simplify, you?re left with a life filled with meaning, a life that is lived on your own terms. You have the time and space to pursue your interests and to create the life you truly desire.
It is often in the most simple things that we find true happiness.
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Simplicity provides many surprising benefits:
1. Your finances improve
Keep your life simple, build a budget and stick to it faithfully.
Sell the stuff you don?t need any more and only purchase items you love or need. Fewer things can permit living in a smaller space. If you?re spending less, your finances are bound to be on a more secure footing. Eliminate debt and invite new success with your improved finances.
Having an excess of financial resources eliminates a lot of the stress from life.
The peace of mind you enjoy is worth the minimal sacrifice. Invest, plan for the future and regain control over your finances.
2. You naturally avoid overreacting
Living a simple lifestyle allows you see the reality of the situation more easily.
Your mind is less stressed because it has less to worry about. It is easier to make a wise decision when you know your principles in life. You only say yes when you can and firmly say no when you can?t or don?t want to.
3. You strengthen your health
By focusing on what?s most important, your stress levels will be lower and your health will benefit. Stress can affect your mood, blood pressure, and mental health, just to name a few. People who live simple life focus on their health and watch carefully what they put inside their bodies. They care about the future enough that they do not to abuse it in the present.
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4. Your relationships become deeper and more meaningful
You might choose to have fewer friends, but the friends you have will be much closer.
It?s easier to focus on the other person when your life is simpler. The interaction is also sincerer, since you?re free of the need to impress them. Choose people in your life whom you can really trust.
5. Simplicity and freedom go hand in hand
The more things you own, the more responsibilities you have, the more you need to service your ego, and the less freedom you enjoy. You will find that simple things such as walking, looking at the clouds and smelling flowers can make you so happy. A simple life gives you freedom from issues in life that should not really be of major concern.
Simplicity is all about focusing on what?s most important to you and letting go of the rest.
A simple life provides freedom.
6. You learn more about yourself
When you?re not distracting yourself with your iPhone or other electrical gadgets, and stressed about becoming a CEO before the age of 40, you have the time and mental space to learn more about yourself. You have time to reflect and be grateful for what you already have.
7. Your life is less cluttered
Fewer possessions and commitments results in less clutter. This means you?ll spend less time cleaning and organizing. Naturally, you?ll have more free time at your disposal. Imagine not having to spend so much time keeping your life organized and dealing with all the things you don?t need or want. Now that?s what you call life!
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8. You can be true to yourself and your values
Modern society is focused on many things that don?t lead to happiness and fulfillment. A big house, fancy car, and a second home in Aspen never made anyone happy.
Material things don?t guarantee happiness, in fact it often leads you to covet and long for more.
Keeping things simple won?t let you be distracted with the temptations life has to offer. A complex life with a lot of expenses has made plenty of people miserable, however.
When you embrace simplicity, you?re no longer influenced by the materialistic values of society. You can follow your own conscience, without concern for appearance. Material possessions don?t define who you are because it is not a measure of how rich or poor you are.
9. More free time
How will you spend all the extra time you?ll enjoy as a benefit of living a simple life?
This is one of the greatest benefits of simple living.
It can be hard to learn to relax when you?re used to running around trying to get everything done. But free time is a gift that only a few truly appreciate.
Is life running you ragged?
Have you been successful by conventional norms, but feeling unfulfilled?
There?s another option.
According to Confucius, ?Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated.?
You can buck convention and live by a simpler set of rules, rules that give you the freedom to enjoy your life.
Stacy Brookman is a Resilience and Life Storytelling Expert and produces the Real Life Resilience podcast.
She helps smart, outwardly confident women who secretly have low self-esteem issues due to an emotionally abusive partner to take back control and begin to develop the resilience they need to be themselves again. Her free monthly webinar will give you 4 Simple, Proven Methods to Writing the First Chapter of Your Life Story in Just 7 Days.
Life is a story?it?s never too late to start telling yours.
