I stumbled across a website today listing 103 Essential Rules: How To Live Simply. I thought it was a pretty good list... especially for someone who piles way too many things on their plate and is a obsessive to do list creator. Although pretty much impossible for me to do, I know I need to learn to find more "me" time and clear my cluttered mind. So here's my condensed list as it pertains to my life:
Be frugal and stay out of debt. Debt hangs over your head like a nasty storm cloud. It keeps you from complete autonomy and makes you into a modern-day slave.
Wear it twice (or thrice). Apparently, this rule doesn’t apply to underwear.
I wish my husband lived by this rule. I wear the same clothes, oh, let's just say a day or two or three more than I probably should. Most of my work clothes get hung back up as soon as I get home and I slip into the same sweats and tshirt I've been wearing all week. Hey, don't judge. Less laundry that way.
Treat everything as an end in itself. Do something because you enjoy it, or because it’s important to you.
Unless it’s urgent, cancel the meeting. Meetings are 95% a waste of time. Send a memo instead and ask for a brief response in writing.
OMG, I wish everyone at work would live by this rule. Do not block off 60 minutes of my day to tell me you need a sign X" by X" signs that needs to say "Y." Email people. Email!!!
Be authentically yourself. You’re you for a reason. Don’t put on a mask, hide your emotions, or put on a show. Just be you.
I wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm an emotional train wreck 99% of the time. I'm obsessed with dogs. I'm generally not a fan of people. That's me. Deal with it.
Quit multi-tasking. Sometimes it’s OK, but most of the time, it’s just keeping you from doing one thing really, really well.
Keep a small inner circle of trusted friends. Social media makes us think we can be friends with everyone. You can’t, unless everyone gets a really small piece of you.
I have a veeeery small circle. My family, Moose and some co-workers. That's it. Works for me.
Buy a quality pair of jeans and wear them out. You’ll get a sense of completion. Satisfying, in a strange zen-like way.
Especially when extra-tall jeans are a bazillion dollars, you will wear them until every seam is ripped out.
Find a job you love. Time is a precious resource but your boss might not think so. Find a job you won’t dread on Monday mornings, or else, make one.
Check. I am so blessed to have a job I love.
Don’t wish away your today’s for tomorrow’s. It doesn’t hit most people until it’s too late, but life is a blessed gift. Just enjoy it my friend.
Focus on the essential. Make room for health, faith, fun, giving, laughing, loving, reading, and chasing your dreams.
Pray like you mean it, and then listen. We are more than flesh and bones. Faith gives meaning to the world around us.
Dear baby Jesus, I have sucked at going to church lately. Forgive me. I will try to do better. :(
Give until it hurts, and then, just a little more. Your happiness is so intricately tied to the happiness of others, that it doesn’t make sense to live any other way.
Do what you love and then get paid for it. If you had the choice, wouldn’t you. You do, now go.
Make your own gifts, and don’t be afraid to mess up. Sometimes its the imperfections that add character. Guy’s note this: girls will think it’s cute anyway.
Linger at the dinner table. There’s something about sharing a meal together that makes you family. Make this time sacred.
I think dinner time is so important. With everyone's crazy schedules, I think the dinner table is the only time where a family can get together, talk about their day and enjoy each other's company. Essential for creating a close family.
Stop consuming, create something. Consuming is passive and leaves you emptier. Creating awakens you from the inside out.
Go with the flow, bro. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, something will change. Life is best enjoyed in the moment.
Check your email once a day, at most. Compulsive email checking is an epidemic. Quit cold turkey.
Yeah right. I want to know in what career/social circles can you get away with only checking emails once a day. Um, definitely not gonna happen.
Leave white space in your day. There should be space between the events in your day to leave room for taking it all in.
Be faithful to one spouse. Love their guts out. In fact, go give them a hug right now. Not just today, do this every day for the rest of your life.
Trust and being faithful, among other key things, are crucial to a successful marriage. Love never fails!
