Society has made us think that we are not enough: you do not have a house, you do not have a husband/wife/serious relationship, a career or something else. The truth is that society wants to feed you an illusion of a perfect life so that it can force you to buy things.For example, they sell you the idea that your life cannot be complete without a house, and they will force on you a mortgage so that you can buy a house, and then you will get into debt so that you can live a life that you may not want. Maybe your idea of a happy life is to be free, not being in debt for a house because maybe you have not decide were you will settle, that for a moment you want to see places and explore the world.
The world is big and you might feel helpless in front of the life’s events, trust me, don’t panic. It takes a lot of courage to be as you are in this moment in time: broken, happy, conflicting as it may seem. Feel your emotions and make a plan. Don’t ever feel that you are behind in life, because you are on your own path. Nobody has experimented your life and what it took to get here, you are right were you are supposed to be. Keep going, you will succeed. Keep going, you are going places. You can do whatever you want. Believe in yourself.
I hope you have the courage to start something you like.. I hope that you find it in yourself to be strong and take decisions based on your beliefs not on the others’. Take the uncomfortable action: it is better to take the action today than to wait for the perfect decision. Life will not provide you the perfect circumstances, that is what the best decision you can take is the one taken today.
I recommend you read “The 12 Weeks Year” by Brian P. Morgan & Michael Lennington. They say in order to create a business, you need to align what you want in life, in personal life with the values of the company. Also, they suggest to create a long term vision and to split it in small 12 weeks plan> you need to work on 7 areas: spiritual, spouse/partner, family, community, physical, personal, business. Below 2 quotes that I have found in this book:
Lou Cassara: ” If you want something you currently don’t have, you need to do something you currently are not doing.”
Jack Welch: ” There is no such thing as work life balance. There are work life choices, and you make them and they have consequence.”
I hope that these rows helped you in a way or another, or at least introduced you to a nice book to read. I hope that you have the courage to do everything you want in life and remember it does not have to be huge, just a little step as time passes. Doing small actions of courage will take you through an adventurous life.
What makes you happy? Do you really know what really means to be at peace with yourself and with where are you in life? One of the ways to achieve that, it may be to live a simple life, since often times clarity brings perspective in your life. Not being tied to your possessions, may bring you focus on what matters the most.
Day by day, we have to deal with our emotions and some times emotions may brings us to the edge. You start to fell empty, not knowing how to deal with negative emotions, then you start eating without noticing. Food may bring comfort, but will not fill in your void. A nutritionist once said that compulsive eating is about emotions: what are you feeling ? Depressed, tired, unloved? What is missing. Often times, we eat as a result of lack of affection in our life. So, sit down and start writing, analyze your thoughts and emotions.
Living a simple life means knowing your principles and values in life. You will not compare with someone else’ s standards and you will be content with what you have. Just take a look at Japanese people, they value simple things in life and love the craftsmanship and commitment that is put in creating something ( ikebana, tea, etc).
You cannot know yourself at once, but you can day by day, start to know yourself, what makes you happy, what is important for you and what is worth your time.
The best kind of love that you can experience is self love…that was straight like a quote 🙂 maybe it is, maybe I have heard it somewhere before. But it is true, in order to receive and give love, you need to start loving yourself.
I have recently read Jay Shetty’s “8 Rules Of Love” and one of the main ideas were that you receive what you give, therefore you must spread kindness. He talks in dept also about karma and other stuff, but this is true-be kind to others. Also, he suggests that everyone must be careful how they present themselves to the world, because that version can make someone fall in love and then you will say that it is not you- ” it was just a mask”, that means that is your fault since you did not presented your authentic self. I recommend you read this book, it shifts your perspectives on love. Another great thing that he said that when searching for love; especially when meeting someone new, you should focus on 3 things and the first dates: if you like their personality, if you respect their values and if you would like to help him/her fulfill his/her dreams. Also, in a recent interview with Drew Barrymore, when he was asked by her on why she is not finding romantic partner, he said, that she should analyze if she has love in her life, maybe is experiencing in other ways trough her friendships, family, because after all love is not entirely romantic life. I thought that this is a powerful way to view life, be grateful and search for love of any kind, not just for the “man of your dreams”.
Life is complex, and you may not have it all at this moment, but you need to be patient and be kind to others and yourself. I will add something, when pursuing a life partner, make sure you pin point what you actually want in a partner. Start searching and remember action is needed after all in all aspects of our lives.
Minimalism is a concept that you may have from time to time, but you do not fully grasp it or align to its values. Minimalism, essentially is living with less, living with intention.
From what I have seen on YouTube videos, on styling channel, capsule wardrobes was a way that they presented minimalism . Simply putting, those girls they were styling gray, beige, white and black clothes since these colors were interchangeable and they will always match with each other, something that did not appeal to me at all. But minimalism in therms of wardrobe doesn’t have to be that way, it should be selecting the colors that suits you and the colors that you love. I recommend reading David Zyla’s book “Color your style” in order to find the colors that best suit or watch videos on YouTube related to personal color analysis, this way you will wear flattering clothes and you will not buy ruthlessly fast fashion or clothes that will only be in the land field.
Living your life doesn’t mean getting attached to things as Joshua Becker says in his book “ Living with less”m, it means living and spending more time with people in your life. He suggests having less things, as this way you are not own by the things you won, meaning that a bigger house requires bigger maintenance expenses that will lead you working overtime and feeling tired, you will not be able to enjoy things in life, you will only be controlled by them. Be careful not to buy things to appear wealthy in the eyes of other since others do not care. At the end, what matters in my opinion is how you feel, you want to be happy and free or you feel that you need that you must go in debt to buy a house just because others are settling down. For others, having a home even tough through debt may bring comfort, while for other may bring anxiety thinking about debt repayment. I have said it before, buy a house only when you are ready if this is is you in the last example, that way you will feel more at ease ( maybe after you find yourself in a promising field that it will provide you mental security that you are in the right path, bear in mind that this is only one way of thinking and you should always do what makes sense for you and your family).
Another internet blogger in the field of minimalism, Francine Jay suggests buying only what is necessary and also when buying keep the rule, one in, one out from your house- donate, sell or throw anything that is of no use or you really like it. She says that our things can be split into 3 categories: useful, beautiful and emotional. Think also about buying locally since it is more gentle to the environment and helps local economy.
One quote that I really liked is: “ success and excess are not the same thing “ (Joshua Becker). Becker says that being healthy for you in order to do the things you want , it matters is morethan working out for an exterior appearance in order to please others.
This year, I want to become more aware of the clutter I have in my life, I will try to donate everything that is not in line with the space. I suggest that you tune in with your emotions. Are you buying to fill in an emotional void or do you really need that? Buy only what is useful for you and meaningful, that way you will live a more balanced life and be gentle to the environment.
Notes from Ladybug 