Letting Go: My year of Simplicity (so far)

lettingGo_logo-02Last year I read a little book titled One Word That Will Change Your Life, by Dan Britton, Jimmy Page, and Jon Gordon, which outlined the advantages of choosing just one simple word that would shape your life for a particular year.

No big new year’s resolutions, no audacious long-winded goals, just one word.

Last year my word was “focus.”  I aimed for it, but not sure I fully achieved it.

This year my word is “simplicity.”  I am learning that the idea is to use this word as a kind of laser guidance system for my choices and actions for the year, and the journey is more important than any particular destination.

So far this is what my year of simplicity has looked like:

  • I “pruned” my closet and dresser of clothes I no longer wear
  • I organized my paper files and shredded or threw out years of bills and financial records that should have been discarded years ago
  • I went through my bookshelves and weeded out the books that “served their purpose” and could be either sold or donated
  • I simplified my grocery shopping to rice, pasta, black beans, eggs, tuna and vegetables
  • I started listing furniture or gadgets on Craigslist that I don’t really need or wouldn’t want to move
  • I began packing up my CD collection for storage until I can plan a yard sale
  • I contacted a real estate agent to discuss the possibility of selling my condo
  • I started reading books on or related to simplicity, including the following
    • Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go, by Richard Rohr
    • Freedom of Simplicity, by Richard Foster
    • The Power of Now, by Ekhart Tolle
    • If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of  the Boat, by John Ortberg
  • I started sharing what I have learned through a series of Letting Go posts (a full list of past posts is at the bottom of this post).
  • I began thinking about Letting Go as a practical concept that can be taught and practiced by others (more on this to come later)

I am probably forgetting a few things, but you get the idea.  Or, more likely, you might be asking, “So what?”

Well, at the start this was tough.  I discovered I didn’t want to just “let go” of my stuff.  So I had to exert some discipline and start small.

What I ended up realizing once I got going, was that as it became easier for me to let go, I encountered a different problem:  few people wanted to buy my stuff, and even giving it away was more difficult than I had imagined.  This inspired a new thought:

If no one else wanted my stuff, then why did I want it?

This is where I am in my year of simplicity, realizing I am surrounded by stuff that I no longer want, and that very few others might want, and its continued presence in my life is a reminder of just how complicated we make our lives by consuming so much.

To be continued….

Previous posts in the Letting Go series:

Letting Go: 2 Quick Thoughts to Help Let Go

Letting Go: Plans

Letting Go: Why it’s Hard To Let Go of Clutter

Letting Go: Negative Thinking

Letting Go: Judging People

Letting Go: Fear

Letting Go: Other People’s Problems

 

Dreams & Success – Henry David Thoreau

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he had imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

– Henry David Thoreau

How you define “Work” may define how you “Live”

In a recent blog titled I don’t work, author Jon Acuff admitted that he really doesn’t work, based on the following quote from author James M. Barrie: “Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.”  And Jon Acuff only does that which he would rather be doing.

Many comments followed this post stating the importance of work, and that work was intended as a good thing (God having created man and woman to work in and care for his creation, Genesis 2:15).  So how could Jon Acuff, or anyone else for that matter, say it’s not really work when there is nothing else you would rather do?

It is really a matter of definition – and how you define “work” impacts how you live your life.

Have you ever attempted to answer the question, “what is work?”  Consider the following advice from Tim Ferris, author of The 4-Hour Workweek:

“If you can’t define it or act upon it, forget it.”

Specifically, Ferris suggests asking two questions when considering stress-inducing questions like this:

  1. Have I decided on a single meaning for each term in this question?
  2. Can an answer to this question be acted upon to improve things?

In our case, can you decide on a single meaning for the term, “Work”?  If you can define what work is for you ( and I’m fairly certain all of us can), then is there action you can take to improve your work, or improve what work means to you (I believe the answer should be yes to this question, the problem lies in our willingness to take the necessary action)?

Let’s return to the Jon Acuff post mentioned earlier.  It appears that Acuff started out with one definition of work that, when examined under the second question above, could be acted upon to improve things, in his case by redefining “work” based on the Barrie quote, and in light of what gives him fulfillment and life.

In other words, Jon Acuff doesn’t have a job, nor does he have a career, but he has found his vocation, or purpose in life, and while it requires effort, it rarely feels like work.  And that makes life worth living to the full.

How do you define work?  Is there any action you can take to improve things?

 

Recommended Reading:

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”