Life can be simple. It doesn't have to be complicated. We have the tendencies to overcomplicate and to overthink our decisions and life choices. In the past few days, I thought about this a little more and looked into my commitments and relationships how they make me feel.
Before I share my findings with you, I begin by voicing some ideas that lead me to this post and simplify your life by evaluating it and becoming clearer on what is really important to you.
It's been two weeks since I started my new position, and I took a closer look at what works, what doesn't work, where do I want to put my energy in, and how to give myself enough time to revive when life gets busy (more on busyness in my last post: "I am so busy!").
There are many times; we don't realize that our nervous system, brain, thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and many other parts get overwhelmed. We notice that when we get irritated quickly, we judge other people's actions and reactions, and we keep running into time limitations. Once I became aware that was happening for me, I grabbed a pen and paper and started to jot down answers to the following questions:
What is happening?
What is bothering me?
Why am I feeling this way? (Irritated, angry, upset, overwhelmed, tired, sad, etc.)
What can I live without that I am currently doing?
What brings me joy that I am doing?
Where do I want to put my attention?
You can add any other clarifying questions that can help you get below the surface of stress. As I am answering these questions, I realized that simplicity is what I need. When we think too much, work too much, and people are too much, we unquestionably are doing too much. Simplicity is it.
During these two weeks, I have blocked out time for specific activities and ensured that I included time for myself. I also realized that these boundaries are not always welcoming everything and everybody in our surroundings, so we have to communicate them clearly. I am thankful for the teachings of mindfulness because it helps me get clarity on what is really important and gives me joy without feeling guilty or shame by living the way I chose.
One of the main tools I found most helpful to simplify is listening. Listening is an "easy" tool we have available. It doesn't require us to do anything. Be it listening to your inner voice or other people's experiences. When we listen without wanting to resolve anything, without fixing anything, only to hear what is happening, we can get most things done because we already possess all the answers. Knowing what simple steps you need to take, we need to listen first.
Go inward and listen to your voice. Connect with people in your family, work, friends and just listen without wanting it to be a certain way or take away the pain someone is going through. Sometimes just being with the person and ourselves simplifies the pain we are in.
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