If It Ain’t Broke…
This story never gets old:
A business man was on vacation on a beautiful island. The pace was slow and the people seemed easy going and… well… simple. One day he hired a local fisherman to take him out on his boat. The scenery was incredible. The fishing was plentiful and the island was undisturbed and quiet. Recognizing opportunity, the business man turned to his guide and said, ‘With all this at our disposal I could really change your life.’ ‘Really?’ the fisherman replied. The business man said, ’Yes, why we could catch and sell fish by the boat loads. Nobody comes here so there is no competition. With some creative marketing we could do something that could change you and your families lives for generations.’
The fisherman could not think of what could change that would make him happier or affect his family for the better but he he took the bait and enquired some more.
The businessman began to lay out how they could create a large fishing export company and make lots of money for him. The Fisherman replied, ‘Then what?’ The businessman motivated by the fisherman’s continuing enquiry said, ‘Well, we’ll grow the fishing business into a large company and then we can create a wholesale fish exchange.’ ‘Then what?’ enquired the fisherman, ‘With tailored marketing and my business contacts we can bring in other fishermen to work for you.’ He answered, ‘Then what?’ ‘Well, perhaps eventually, for a season you would probably have to move to the mainland while we developed the business side together’. ‘Then what?’ ‘Well this is where it gets really good,’ said the businessman, ‘After a few good years of growth we can take the company international, go public and then put the company up for sale and make a whole load of cash out of it!’ Still seeking clarification, the fisherman asked yet again, ‘Then what?’ ’Well,’ the businessman said, a little exasperated, ‘Then I guess you can retire and move somewhere remote and spend your days kicking back, doing the fishing that you love, taking siestas and enjoying your life’. Grinning the fisherman asked, ‘Oh, Like now?’
Review you
Like the fisherman, I like my life to be a life in constant review. Open to new ideas. Open to challenging previously accepted beliefs and open to making sure that I allow enough contemplation time to decipher that I have not become a dog pointlessly chasing my own tail or I am not just mindlessly performing societies required daily rituals without assessing if they are resulting in the desired lifestyle for me and most importantly ensuring my freedom and keeping me happy. Because of this you can ask me at any point about the purpose of what I am doing and I can reel off a million reasons and explanations…with diagrams too if you would like.
I do not find this to be a common trait.
I often ask people who come to me for advice after getting into a spot of bother, why they did what they have chosen to do that brought them their troubles and I am regularly met with an eternal blank expression and a senseless shrug.
The complete opposite to mindful living.
So feel welcome to take this opportunity, as I have done again whilst writing this piece, to ask yourself:
Is what I am doing everyday likely to bring me the results that I have always wanted?
Do I still remember why I’m doing what I’m doing?
Like the fisherman’s tourist, am I already surrounded by everything that I TRULY need and yet cannot see it?
Am I still in charge of my life and the direction it is taking? If not, what can I do to bring it back on track?
Like the fisherman’s tourist, am I seeking tons of money or in fact happiness? And have I confused the two?
Simple Steps To A Simple And Peaceful Life
1. Take it easy
Slow down. Not everything has to happen at rate of knots. Simple living is achieved at human pace, not technology pace.
2. Stop.
Every now and then step off the treadmill. Being busy all the time does not necessarily mean you are being productive. Often the best ideas come from just..stopping. Just standing still. Long enough to notice, catch and keep the best solutions and ideas.
3. Declutter your mind and declutter your surroundings
Give yourself clarity by reducing the havoc and chaos in your home, office and brain. You will be able to think straight.
4. Agree to disagree
Are you the sort of person who always has to be right? Do you know that you are just being wrong? Because frankly I can guarantee you that unless your argument concerns someone’s life or death it probably doesn’t really matter. The one who can walk away first is usually the one with the intelligent confidence that knows their time is not worth wasting on micro issues.
5. Make a decision
Procrastination is often the route to an unnecessarily stress laden life. Very few decisions we will make in life will be undo-able, so make that decision. Sign that paper or don’t. Say yes or no. It is the indecision and the perceived outcome that is weighing you down – not the reality.
6. Break it down
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by your own choices and decisions? Or overwhelmed by the things you have to do? Then something is wrong. Unless you are glued to some unbreakable deadline or regime, rethink and break everything down to digestible pieces spread out over a number days or weeks. I have to remind myself to do this all the time. When I do it I feel a million times better and furthermore, the job(s) gets done.
Peace.
Tammy Strobel: Simply Car Free
Tammy Strobel is one of those straight from the heart writers who are not afraid to be exposed and vulnerable in front of their readers. You get this from her blog. In her book she exerts a more assertive tone as she runs through her and her partners experience in giving up their cars.
Sensibly, she took her time to do it slowly and ‘Simply Car Free’ is full of really good practical tips learnt by the author for changing to a car free existence. Okay, the reality for a lot of people is that either their lifestyle or their immediate environment does not easily allow for this transition. She recognizes this and addresses going ‘car-lite’ for a less extreme option.
Tammy’s tips include talking about shopping with the bike, what to wear and winter biking. She also touches on the benefits of simplifying and minimizing with a good few reference links to follow through on.
The good thing to note is all the by-product benefits of prioritizing the bike before the car. There is the financial savings and the health aspect, not to mention the feeling of actively taking control of an area of your life instead of passively buying into a car’s perceived necessity to one and all. And for goodness sake, what about the fact that cycling is just a bowl of enormously refreshing, cheap, simple fun?
This is a wonderful push for those thinking of making the change…however slowly.
Click here for more details and to purchase from the authors website.
The Top 5 Regrets People Have On Their Deathbeds
Ms. Bonnie Ware, a nurse who worked for years with the dying, posted her list of the top 5 regrets people say aloud on their deathbed in the Observer newspaper. It is a a reminder that ultimately it is indeed the simple things that matter.
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.
It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.
By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.
We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.
It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have sillyness in their life again.
When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.
