It may be too unsophisticated, but keeping your life simple is an important key to longevity. Aside from prolonging life, it makes a long life happy.
In all the perplexities that are going on, many people have forgotten how simple simple really is. They have forgotten that one key to a healthy life is being downright simple. Simplicity is often times so profound to other people that they do not believe it unless someone complicates it for them. They find it hard to imagine that once upon a time, people lived comfortably and very happily. That satisfaction exists even without television, air conditioners, or phones. They lived much longer and healthier lives long before the discovery of Science and Medicine. They don’t need some social science expert to tell them that needs are proportional to progress, and that needs cannot stay as they are while progress goes on, especially at a fast pace.
This thing about life being complicated, and should be made complicated to enjoy it, has been impressed on people by media and by a metropolitan culture that says life is all about competing and coping up.
Everyday, we are bombarded by manufactured suggestions that we cannot be simply simple – that you got to have this and that, and you got to be this and that, or be left behind by the majority (FOMO). This is mostly the spirit of modern commercialism. Though not actually said, the mindset of being simple is a sin has become rampant.
In case you haven’t noticed, commercialism has become the strongest life pressure, and the strongest life killer. The pressures brought about by stressful competition can kill!
According to physical therapists and massage therapy experts, pressures build up lumps in the body that constrict smooth blood flow. These constrictions produce your unexplained body aches that can later weaken your body defenses. They are harmful to your health.
Advocates of simple living say that Commercialism is blowing surface-deep physical and vain emotional needs out of proportion by tricking the conscience of people into believing that non-conformities to suggested and highlighted commercial needs are bad. Simply put, it is saying, You’re a loser if you don’t have this!
Commercial needs are often for physical beauty, trendy accessories, fame, prestige, fashion, and other mundane, temporal, and non-essential things, all of which man can live without. These things excite and resurrect the spoiled brat in people.
Tips for Simple Living
In many ways, you probably know how to live a simple life, but do you want to? Many want the complexity and constant drama of their lives. This is something we each have to look at honestly. However, some of us really want simplicity, and some would want it if they knew what it felt like to live more simply and at peace. Here are a few ways to get there.
Money Brings Simplicity (Or Complexity)
People use money in ways that overly complicate life, as when they put a down payment on a hot tub that they really don’t need. Then they have to work to pay the interest, they have to clean the tub, find a place for it, and have it repaired. Of course, if you are wealthy enough, someone will take care of these things for you. However, if you make 8 bucks per hour, a hot tub will almost certainly overly complicate your life.
If you really want the simple life, the choice then is to make more money, or live a life that is simply supported by your current income.
Drama Adds Complexity
For a simpler life, have fewer friends. This may sound harsh, but how many friends do you need? Don’t get rid of true friends, but don’t add people to your life unless there is a real exchange of value between you.
With friends and family, don’t get involved in the drama more than you need to. Watch closely, and you’ll see that until a person is ready to change, you rarely can help them in any case, neither with words nor with money. Save your efforts for when you truly can help. Let the drama swirl around you, but don’t get involved in it. This is a crucial lesson on how to live a simple life.