Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff

There's no question that life in the 21st century is stressful. But hasn't "life is stressful" always been true?  Our ancestors worried about surviving a freezing winter, about hail or locusts or something else that might destroy crops, about predatory animals, about disease and injury....  At least most of us have no worries about heat, food, wild animals, or whether we can get decent medical care when we need it. Humans have always lived with stressors, but today we do things that  add even more .  We could choose to avoid some of the factors that make life more difficult than it has to be, but to succeed, we need to shift our mindset. 9 ways to simplify life for more peace 1.  Unplug. We haven't always had mobile phones, but now we "must" have them at all times.  Some of us sleep with them. Try leaving your phone in your car when you go out, or in another room when you're at home.  Go about your tasks and think your own thoughts without responding...

My grandsons sleep with night lights.  In fact, they really don't like to be left without their little lights, which shine all night in case they wake up for some reason.  The lights are a comfort to them. There's an old French proverb (my research indicates that it first appeared in print in a 1580 essay by Michel de Montaigne):  "Le jeu n'en vaut pas la chandelle."  In other words, "The game is not worth the candle." It refers to candlelit rooms where people would go to gamble at cards.  Since candles were expensive, it was typical at the end of the night to leave some money to contribute to the cost of the lighting.  But if someone lost money during the games or didn't make much profit, they wouldn't be able to cover the price of the candle. And so the question:  Was the game worth the candle?  Was it worth the effort or expense it required?  Finite resources When candles and lamp fuel were expensive, you had to carefully consider how you ...

All of us want to be happy.  We want our children to be happy.  Happiness and its pursuit are not only considered undeniable rights by most Americans, but have become the subject of many academic studies and organizations . Many of us think that having more money, more possessions, more experiences, more popularity – more of everything – will make us happy.  So we pamper and treat ourselves.  We compete with others.  And we give our kids "everything we never had." Of course a lack of money for basic necessities is awful and insecure.  Poverty adds stress and fear to every day.  But studies show that people who win the lottery or inherit money are no happier than everyone else. That's because happiness is an emotion.  It's based on people, experiences, and things, and it's triggered externally.  So if people, experiences, and things let us down or prove unsatisfactory, our happiness can be compromised or destroyed.  At some point we've a...

Our styles are personal.  Our homes are personal.  And so is our clutter. After all, those piles that crowd your space and linger in your life are piles that you (or someone you live with) created while you dressed, worked, cooked, and played in your home. Find decluttering success Clutter is personal, but it's not unique.  Humans in general have a tendency to acquire things, but your habits likely reveal you as "one of four distinct organizing personalities" (or a combination), according to Deborah Cabral, professional organizer and founder of The DeClutter Coach .  She calls them Visual , Social , Tidy , and Multitasking . (Full disclosure:  I'm Tidy – which you might guess – but also Visual.) There are many decluttering strategies, but some may work better for you than others because of your organizing personality.  Get ready to learn which methods suit your viewpoints and tendencies, and gain more understanding about the different organizing personaliti...

Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules ,* said it clearly:  "Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants." * This blog is reader-supported.  If you buy through my links, I may earn a small commission. Yeah, yeah, you've heard it before.  But do you actually make most of your food choices from the plant kingdom? The reasons to eat lower on the food chain are pretty compelling. One easy way to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, moderate blood sugar, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, save money at the grocery store, and simplify your menu is to eat more plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and whole grains. Plant foods are the richest, most abundant sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.  They contain antioxidants and hundreds of phytochemicals, and many of these contain disease-fighting properties that a laboratory can't duplicate. There's even evidence that eating more fruits and vegetables protects cognitive health and redu...

Did you make a New Year's resolution?  Many of us do, with plans to improve life in some way:  better sleep, better diet, more exercise, more reading, more prayer, less alcohol, less complaining... or something else!  It seems to be human nature to continually try to improve.  Maybe that's why it's so easy for us to get caught up in the shiny promises of "progress," even before we think things through and imagine all of the potential consequences. But that's another subject.  In the meantime, you and I and most people I know are feeling energized about a new year and those all-important resolutions to do better and be better. Here's the bad news. Studies show that we fail at those resolutions.  Discouragingly, most of us don't make it past the end of January before breaking all of our glittering promises.  In fact, the fitness app Strava, which has analyzed millions of uploaded exercise activities, has dubbed the second Friday in January as "Quit...

Finding ways to simplify life when my children were little brought me great joy and contentment.  We gained the ability to live on one salary while I homeschooled, and I had plenty of time for special projects with my kids, lots of volunteering at my church, and a return to professional singing in my late 30's. We don't live in a simple world, however, so life gets more complicated over time.  We add responsibilities, make plans, and buy stuff which requires cleaning and maintenance. So I've made returns to simplicity on several occasions.  Minimalism brings clarity, space, and energy to my life.  It's like a deep breath of fresh air that makes you feel ready for anything. These aren't the only ways to make life simpler, but they're the steps I've found work best for me, and I return to them over and over. Here's the list – look for details below. Remove extras. Simplify clothes. Simplify food. Shortlist tasks. Go fullscreen. Make quiet time. Are you cu...

Raise your hand if you've ever tried a fad diet?  A liquid diet?  A super-crazy complicated diet that required books, courses, meal cards, and purchasing food at specialty stores? I've been there. I've had short-term success with some of these plans, and a lot more failure. I don't have a minimalist body.  I have the body of a person who has struggled with excess weight for her entire adult life.  I have a lot of excess weight, but even if you only have a little bit, you might be able to relate. Why do we make it so complex?   Why do we go to such extremes to control our weight?  Maybe it's because our bodies feel extreme .  I know what it's like to look at a picture of myself and feel even fatter than I already know I am. Our culture's ideas about beauty are also extreme.  Flawless, unwrinkled skin, long, thick hair, and above all, thinness – the criteria for attractiveness are demanding and ever-changing . Maybe you're horrified by a little ext...

How to choose well? I'm offered a bag of peanut butter M&Ms.  What will I do? I have 15 free minutes.  How will I use them? I received $200 in royalties.  What will I do with it? These and countless other situations arise every day, and we have to decide how to act.  Actress Tracee Ellis Ross has said, "Wisdom means to choose now what will make sense later."   And while we may often be able to understand what that choice should be, it can be hard to implement. I know I should eat three, not three handfuls, of M&Ms.  But should I take a walk, read a chapter, tidy the kitchen, write a few sentences, or scroll through social media?  Should I save, spend, or donate extra money, or some combination of those actions? The choice to be wise It's hard to be wise, because we're all vulnerable to temptation.  It's easier to veg out on Netflix than it is to read that classic novel we've been meaning to finally get to.  It's easier to follow celeb...