The Simple Life

Deep down it’s what most of us yearn for and yet in our fast paced lives and our frenzied pursuit of material things what most of us have lost sight of.

Simple Joys by Jayel Aheram courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons licensed by CC BY 2.0

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Count your blessings if you have:-

1. A place to call home.
2. People who love you.
3. Enough food to stay healthy.
4. A reason to get up in the morning.
5. A passion that drives you.

Grateful by Sharon Sinclair courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons licensed by CC BY 2.0

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Life is simple. We’re the ones that complicate the hell out of it, mostly because of our unrealistic expectations or our misguided sense of entitlement. I am as fond of material comforts as the next person but I recognise them for what they are – a way to make my life more comfortable. They are an enhancement. A choice. Would I be able to survive without most of them? Probably.

The acquisition of material things should not be what drives us and if it is then maybe it is time to step back and recalibrate.

Today in Oxford Street by Lars Plougmann courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons licensed by CC BY-SA 2.0

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It’s time to think again when:-

1. Your smartphone is more important than your partner.
2. You are slogging your guts out to pay for a mortgage on a property you never get to spend any time in.
3. You are maxed out on your credit cards just so you can drive the latest car when an older model would get you from A to B just as well.
4. You eat at the hottest places in town because they are the hottest places in town not because the food is any good.
5. You and your friends are engaged in a constant battle of one-upmanship about clothes, shoes, bags and holidays.

Man Woman Smartphones Restaurant by David van der Mark courtesy Flickr Creative Commons licensed by CC BY-SA 2.0

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Most of us come back from a holiday refreshed and relaxed because we are able to step away from the white noise of our everyday lives and just be. It gives us a chance to think, to feel, to breathe away from the pressure cooker of a nine to five existence. How nice it would be if we could carry that sense of freedom back to our everyday lives. The first step to doing so comes from within. Life will always throw us curveballs, stresses and strains are part of being alive. We learn from them and grow but if you can spend a little time each day counting your blessings and reminding yourself of what is important and crucially what is not, the simple life may not be as far away as you imagined.

Quiet please by Paolo Fefe courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons licensed by CC BY-ND 2.0

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