“Life is really simple,
but we insist on
making it complicated.”
~Confucius
What comes to mind when you think of simplicity? Is it the smile on a child’s face? Is it a kitten playing with her favorite toy? Or is it more extreme, something such as, a cabin in the woods without any connection to the rest of the world?
Although this feels like something my grandparents would have said, life used to be simpler… especially in the summer!
As a child, I remember playing outside with my neighborhood friends ALL day and when I got called in for dinner, I would GROAN because we were having so much fun! We would play kickball, ride our bicycles, run through the sprinklers, play in the woods and make up games. It was a BLAST!
The world has definitely changed. One of the biggest changes is technology. In many ways, technology has made things simpler. For example, I can send someone an email and get a response within minutes vs. in my youth I had to write a letter (putting pen to paper!). Then, go to the post office or find a post box because our mail carrier was not allowed to pick up mail from our house. In order to respond, the other person would have to go through this same process. It took days, if not weeks to get a reply!
There are many examples of how technology has made our lives simpler.
There are also examples of how technology has made our lives more complicated. Technology makes everything available all the time, which some people might argue makes our lives simpler. However, sometimes because of technology, everything is available ALL the time. This means instead of spending time with your family playing cards or going for walk to see the summer sunset, you are on FaceBook interacting with people you don’t know or you’re placing a Pea Pod grocery order or you’re doing a gazillion other things that are now available to you 24 hours, 365 days a year. Technology makes things more complicated because there are many more choices.
How often do you plan to do something with your family or for yourself and it gets overruled because you spent the time on social media or writing emails? (Be honest…) It happens to me. I love to read. Often, I plan to read in the evening, right after I check my email… Big mistake! Before I know it, my treasured reading time has been usurped by emails, which leads to reading an article, which leads to just checking FaceBook for a “couple of minutes”, etc. I suspect you may be able to relate to this. The key point is that because I CAN do these things at any hour of the day, I CHOOSE to do those things (e.g., check email, read an online article, check my social media) instead of doing something I love to do (e.g., reading).
What can you do about this? Quite simply, make a different choice! In the example, I gave you from my own life, I can set a “rule” that I won’t open my laptop (since that seems to be the time stealer for me…) after dinner. I guarantee, this will be VERY difficult for me to adhere to at first. Then, after a short period of time, it will get easier. Eventually, it will simply be the way things are done.
The hazy, lazy days of summer are the perfect time to experiment with changing your choices so you can reclaim your summer. Grab this opportunity now!
- Are You Crazy? - June 21, 2019
- To-Do Lists: Reasons to Love Them - May 10, 2019
- Keep It Simple - April 26, 2019
