The Simple Life

We always yearn for the good old days and whether you know it or not I think it is basically because the life was simple. You were considered fortunate when you lived in a flat and even for some a few families shared the same one. You may have ten people sharing a single toilet for every need. One television and only four channels and those who lived in kampungs do not even have basic amenities like water, lights and toilets. Today, we can fight over which channel to watch or which washroom to use even as each household may have a few TVs and at least two washrooms. 


They make you pay and then give you 8-10 soccer matches at the same time. The music and songs are loud and crude, fast and full of angst without the same quality in lyrics or musicianship. In place of banana leaf and "opeh" leaf (the leaves of the opeh come from the leaf sheath of the betel nut palm (Areca catechu) which not only kept the food warm for longer period but made them tasty too) they give us Styrofoam boxes with plastic utensils. It is also an age of wastage and lack of natural recycling.

John Lennon said that "life is what is happening to you when you are busy making other plans".

Can We Simplify Our Lives?

We can but the choice is yours and after many years of our existing habits and lifestyle, it takes some discipline to change. You basically need to recognize and do two things - to own only what you need and to do only what matters in life. Everything around us is getting too complicated and our lives are getting unnecessarily busy. They said that with computerization everything will get simple, heck no. Yes, you save some settings, templates and files but there are just so many other things you have to do before and after. Are you saving on paper? Basically, we own too many things than we really need (eg. you go on holiday and you buy things not because you need them but because they are cheap) and you ended up spending more money than is necessary worse sometimes to maintain them. So, needless to say, we ended up having no time and not enough money. We even pay people to cut our nails these days in manicure and pedicure. Even the dogs get it (talking about living a dog's life).

We are unable to focus due to too much multi-tasking and removing what is not needed will help us to enjoy what we already have rather than pursuing things we don't already have allowing you to feel more content with your current lot rather than feeling empty because of what you have not. This awareness will give us the power required to make right choices in our lives.

Our Minds - The Greatest Weapon

The human mind is your greatest weapon. If you spend a minute thinking of all your happiest moments in life, you will gradually be beaming with a nice smile and conversely, doing it negatively by thinking up your worst moments would set you frowning. Besides, your mind always need not just tranquility but also clarity to perform optimally. If we remove unnecessary clutter, rubbish, habits, people, incidents from our minds, clarity will form and you can then see clearly what is important and what your priorities are. This is immensely beneficial. "This is mind over matter - if you don't mind it doesn't matter."

It is also not just about owning less things but also means buying less expensive things (this is subjective as how you attach a value as meaning of expensive is different for every person and perhaps dependent on what you earn but you do get the drift). This is so that you may get a paradigm shift through a change of lifestyle.

What About Our environment?

Our environment refers to the space we have - the office, desk, home, room, etc. It's not doing redecoration or renovation or upgrading. It is simple to unclutter that space. When we have more things not only we will run out of space but we will end up shifting piles of whatever from one spot to another sort of like transferring problems. Very often, we do it at the office and home and soon and feel great when everything appears neat and tidy and then within a short span of time, everything just goes back to messiness again. Sigh.

Maybe we should just give away some of the things or throw away the others, usually things you do not need. You can give away your clothes too. New ones not used to family members or friends perhaps and used ones to charity. Do it gradually and start small and with less then build up momentum when you are on song. Meantime, don't add more. Do not give away 5 items and buy 10.

Benefit Someone Who Need It More

When you give something which you do not need, it could be a precious gift or a treasure to the other person. Give furniture to The Salvation Army they can replenish and sell it for money to the charity (only in usable conditions please as I have seen people dumped useless things at the Salvation Army collection bins and if you take a closer look, it makes you sick). Suddenly, it looks like you have a bigger house than you thought.

Buy What You Need, Not What You Want

Your space shall become the same old one if you start to buy more than you need. Oh, there's a sales on. If you don't need anything, stay rooted, don't go for you will surely end up buying something you don't need but because it is cheap and you commence your accumulation again. It may be like an addiction like say, smoking, gambling or people who abuse drugs. As you resist the urge, day by day, your head gets clearer, your shoulders feel lighter. You will later begin to feel a great sense of achievement and be very pleased with yourself.

You will also be lessening your carbon footprint saving you your hard-earned money and also the environment and then put that money to better use or for a greater cause.

Sleep and Rest As A Weapon

A favourite poser of a friend is "Sleep Is a Weapon". He is right but frankly how many of us has the luxury or habit. I am sure quite frequently we yearn for that 40 winks but when that opportunity comes along, we will inevitably be finding something else to do such as going on the computer - you have the Internet, games, Facebook, MSN, fiddle with your cell phone, watch TV, catch a movie on DVD that you have previously bought and yet to watch and they are now releasing the same move title's part 2 soon sometimes into the wee hours. If some of these activities could be reduced, you are looking at more quality rest today and a happier person tomorrow. 

Sleeping cost nothing but is easier said than done. Well, I do know of some people who sleeps too much. Adjust the cycle then. When you feel troubled, go to sleep, sleep over your problems. When rest is restored, even if the problem doesn't go away when you wake up, you will be feeling much better and therefore better equipped to deal with things. Sleep is free and easy and yet not very easy to achieve due to many distractions.

It is not just sleep but quality rest as well. Work obligations is often enough to kill and then you have the after work obligations. Add to it, social obligations of meeting family members and circle of friends and this can be energy sapping if not managed. Waking up early not only give you a head start but you get to see a different perspective. I know that some of us regard sleeping as a waste of time but most of us lack sleep and require the healing process.

Have Less

Having less means we need lower maintenance and less time to do things. More furniture means more cleaning, more chemical needed to clean up stuffs. More decor means more time for cleaning. So we end up doing lots of unnecessary things when we could have put our time to better use, to things that matter more. Spending more time with the family is a really great option and using time to develop a passionate hobby could be another.

Have "Lone" Time For Yourself

Very few of us have time for ourselves and even those who do we can easily find ourselves spending them indulging in our daily habits maybe like going out for drinks, etc. You spend time at work, for social obligations, for various other matters, for family members but what about yourself? It is very important to find some time alone in order to reflect. It is like detoxification. Ridding yourself of impurities and strengthening oneself in other aspects all these can only be done with reflection. Otherwise, we will be running over to the next day with the same habits and routine. Learn to be still, have quiet moments and that allows your mind to be filled with gratitude and happiness.

Read More

Watching TV and movies can be fun but it is really reading that nourishes the mind and the soul. We only have and can live but one life but reading enables us to transport ourselves into another world, into the lives of a thousand other people - big and small, rich or poor and we learn to appreciate other situation than the one you are in. People would say they learn much when they travel. Yes to a certain extend in that you get your senses titillated by the sights, smell and noise of a busy street or market place, etc. but for your mind and soul to be reached real deep, you need quiet time for reading. Do you not often hear people saying that reading that book was actually more enjoyable than watching the movie? A thousand times I have heard that mentioned even though the movie itself was exciting.

Be Like A Child In The Old Days

Live life with the wonderment of a child. Worry less and love a lot more. When you have a child-like wonder, you see life with a different perspective and you appreciate it more. Do not let things drive you stupid or crazy. A lot of things that matter to you now can actually be meaningless in the near future like when you fought tooth and nail for a tattoo as a youth. Like when you must absolutely get hold of that iPhone when they first released and you want to kill yourself when you do not get it. Things will lose their hold over you. You would not want it that way six months down the road or a year from now. You too shall become old like that gadget then what. iDie? Postpone having that and the desire may die off or at least wear off like a novelty.

Make A Choice - Don't Fret

Make a choice that you will never fret anymore over small stuffs and make a point that most things are small stuffs anyway (including some people) and since they are all small stuffs don't fret anymore. You don't have to sweat over all the small stuffs. Our lives are precious and we should not squander away valuable time over all these. Late at night or in the early hours of the morning, reflect, meditate, pray if you must. Doing these things gives us a sense of gratitude and gratitude brings happiness.

Look, the ultimate human pursuit is happiness. When you live simply, you focus on what is important. Your needs and views are clear and uncluttered. You are always grateful. You will feel contentment and you will be happy. Of what good is it to know the costs of everything but the value of none. Lots of people are not too happy with their current lot because they want to scale their next height, their next peak and they get too bent on it. Remember, life is what's happening to you when you are busy making other plans.

Go for the simple life. Simplicity is a key to open that door of contentment. When one door closes another opens but choose the right one. A door is a door no matter how sophisticated it looks. Maybe it is time we adopt the KISS principles - to Keep It Simple Stupid. The people of Bhutan are among the poorest but their hearts have content and are higher up than Singaporeans in the Happiness Index. It's because their life is simple. Many other poor countries and their poor people seems happy and have less care because mostly they live life on the fringe. I am not suggesting you do that but that is the balance.