“What do you like doing best in the world, Pooh? [asked Christopher Robin]…
“What I like best in the whole world is Me and Piglet going to see You, and You saying ‘What about a little something?’ and Me saying, ‘Well, I shouldn’t mind a little something, should you, Piglet,’ and it being a hummy sort of day outside, and birds singing.” A.A. Milne, from The House at Pooh Corner

I’ve been thinking and reading a lot, lately, about simplicity. So much has been written about that topic; leading a simple life, reducing your life of clutter, enjoying the simplicity and silence of nature, etc. etc. But, how do we do that?? I’m sure there are hundreds of ways but, for me, I have decided to try three different ways. And, I’d like to share those with you.
The first one is to know what your perfect day looks and feels like. I’ve been visualizing my perfect day each day before my feet even hit the ground and seeing it as a “simple day”. That includes time for meditating, tending to my garden flowers, enjoying my time spent at LifePath with the staff and my daughter as we talk of new ideas and projects, taking a deep breath and smile as I make another decision about our construction project, spending time with my husband each evening to watch the sunset, and getting a good night’s rest. Yours might look different, however, it’s important to ask yourself, “what does a “simple day” really mean to me.
The second thing that I’m trying to remember is to leave space between everything. I used to schedule my day so that one meeting or session ended and another one began. I know it’s tempting to fill in every waking moment with tasks or something to do. But, I’m finding that I just can’t do that to myself anymore. So, I’m trying to “leave space”. And, what I’m learning is that the space between these things is just as important as the doing of things. I’ll take a short walk, play with the dogs and cats, drink a cup of tea or just breathe. It’s helping so much.
And, the last is what I wrote about last week and that’s practicing gratitude. My friends, Eli and Joseph gave me a special rock to put in my pocket so that each time I feel some stress, I can touch the rock and remind myself of everything for which I am grateful. It’s working! A simpler, positive attitude can be created anytime and anyplace with just a change in thinking. In fact, my husband, Michael, announced this morning that we were going to “flow” through the day and be grateful for our lives. And, we did it! I’m finding that it’s about being grateful for what is and then accepting it instead of fighting it.
As always, I’d love to hear from you at docbeverly@aol.com about your ideas of how to live a simple life.
Beverly