Simple Gifts

The old Quaker hymn says :

“‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down, where we ought to be.
And if we find ourselves in the place just right
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.”

In other words, life is better when it’s simple. But how do you apply it to modern life?

‘Tis the Gift

Simplicity

My life is less stressful when I have less going on. Think of a really busy week where your schedule is packed with a billion things from 7am to 10pm. Then think of a week that’s practically empty, or even one where you’re focused on one goal for the whole week. Which schedule do you like more? If you’re like me, you value free time and less stress. I find that I focus better when I’m not busy.

Life doesn’t lend itself to focusing on one thing at a time. Bills need to be paid. Relationships need to be maintained. Life goes on. When you get the chance to live a simple week, treat it like a gift.

Where We Ought to Be

Simplicity is a gift because it helps us focus on the important. I spoke with my sister this past week. Most graduates from her school were worried about finding a job and thinking about how to pay off their student debt – all valid concerns. She also learned that a fellow classmate died this week. A drunk driver hit her while she was walking.

News like that makes me realize that some worries aren’t worth worrying about.

Where will you be in the next 5 or 10 years? Will you be pursuing your passions? Will you even know what your passions are?

Nobody wants to die. But some of us still refuse to live. We walk through life aimlessly, expecting school or friends or parents to tell us our reason for living. But we never ask the person that matters most: ourselves.

Ask yourself, why do I do what I do? If you don’t know, then stop and figure it out.

The Gift to Be Free

Simplicity in what we own is also a gift. Hear me out.

When I was in middle school, my history teacher told us that he used to be able to fit everything he owned his pickup truck. He had the freedom to move whenever he wanted. He could literally throw all his junk in his trunk and go. Wouldn’t that be nice?

I’ve got a confession: I buy a lot of things that I don’t need. Last week, I bought 2 wireless keyboards. I didn’t need them, but they were cheap. I’m a sucker for cheap stuff, so I have a lot of clutter that I don’t need. I’ve become better at giving away or tossing useless junk, but some habits don’t die.

Wouldn’t it be great to have nothing but the essentials? You would never be overwhelmed with clutter, and you would get maximum use out of what you own. You could spend less time cleaning, and you would fully appreciate your stuff.

I recently moved from North Carolina to Ohio. I didn’t rent a moving van because the rental would cost more than the value of my big stuff. Instead, I shipped a few boxes of books and packed the rest into my sedan. It wasn’t easy to go through my junk and decide what to keep and what to throw away, but I managed to get it done. I simplified the clutter in my life.

It felt great to know that I only had a car-load of stuff to worry about. Maybe the next time you move, you can try to simplify your stuff too. Heck, why wait? Do it now.

Love and Delight

So what makes you happy? Think of your most happy memories in life. Is there a common theme? What about your unhappy times? Is there something underlying those moments too?

Our bodies and minds are organic. They change and adapt to all sorts of conditions, but we also have emotional memory. So the same things that made us happy in the past can continue to make us happy in the future. The same goes for unhappy memories.

Find one thing in your life that makes you unhappy. Maybe you’re involved in something you don’t care about – you’re doing it because you feel obligated. Maybe you’re in an unhealthy relationship with someone. Then, do everything you can to get rid of that source of unhappiness.

On the flip side, what makes you happy? What gives you joy? Not just pleasure, but real joy. Do you find that you’re too busy to do what makes you really happy? Doesn’t that seem wrong? Since you’ve also eliminated one unhappy thing in your life, you should have more time to do the things that bring you joy.

By doing this, you actively simplify and focus your life. And you’ll eventually find yourself in the valley of “love and delight.”