I don’t if it’s just me, or is the Christmas season the busiest time of the entire year? With all the holiday meal planning, travel arrangements, shopping on top of your career, we lose track of the simple things in life. Those simple pleasures are the things that ultimately matter the most when we look back at our lives as we get older.
Clutter is the opposite of simplicity. The more we do, the more clutter we have in our lives. It seems that no matter how hard we try, the clutter seems to stack up in our lives the more we age. That clutter equates to more stress, it’s unavoidable. I ran across a recent article about taking the “minimalist” route in life. So-called “minimalists” live with less and don’t gather a lot of stuff. That’s certainly a learned behavior. The world teaches us that more stuff equals more satisfaction in life.
Here are some habits that minimalists use to help them stay that way:
·They always address their underlying issues. You address them and they don’t magnify and bring more clutter.
·Minimalists set small, achievable goals that make sense in their lives. Big goals are fine, but again they bring more clutter.
·They keep a clean slate in their lives. Minimalists get rid of duplicate items in their homes and more importantly emotional items that tend to weigh them down.
·Minimalists don’t impulse shop and they mostly stick to the basics.
·Minimalists organize everything and create no-clutter zones to help cut down on stress.
Life is meant to be lived simply and enjoyably. Jesus is the model for that. His message is straight-forward and simple. Maybe we should all strive for as much clutter-free simplicity as we can in our lives and enjoy the people and things that matter most. Just a thought during this busy Christmas season. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
~ Dewayne Wells