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“Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.” — Thomas Kempis
Simplicity brings balance, freedom, and joy. When we begin to live simply and experience these benefits, we begin to ask the next question, “Where else in my life can I remove distraction and simply focus on the essential?”
Based on our personal journey, our conversations, and our observations, here is a list of the 10 most important things to simplify in your life today to begin living a more balanced, joyful lifestyle:
1. Your Possessions
Too many material possessions complicate our lives to a greater degree than we ever give them credit. They drain our bank account, our energy, and our attention. They keep us from the ones we love and from living a life based on our values. If you will invest the time to remove nonessential possessions from your life, you will never regret it. For more inspiration, consider Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life.
2. Your Time Commitments
Most of us have filled our days full from beginning to end with time commitments: work, home, kid’s activities, community events, religious endeavors, hobbies … the list goes on. When possible, release yourself from the time commitments that are not in line with your greatest values.
3. Your Goals
Reduce the number of goals you are intentionally striving for in your life to one or two. By reducing the number of goals that you are striving to accomplish, you will improve your focus and your success rate. Make a list of the things that you want to accomplish in your life and choose the two most important. When you finish one, add another from your list.
4. Your Negative Thoughts
Most negative emotions are completely useless. Resentment, bitterness, hate, and jealousy have never improved the quality of life for a single human being. Take responsibility for your mind. Forgive past hurts and replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
5. Your Debt
If debt is holding you captive, reduce it. Start today. Do what you’ve got to do to get out from under its weight. Find the help that you need. Sacrifice luxury today to enjoy freedom tomorrow.
6. Your Words
Use fewer words. Keep your speech plain and honest. Mean what you say. Avoid gossip.
7. Your Artificial Ingredients
Avoid trans fats, refined grain (white bread), high-fructose corn syrup, and too much sodium. Minimizing these ingredients will improve your energy level in the short-term and your health in the long-term. Also, as much as possible, reduce your consumption of over-the-counter medicine – allow your body to heal itself naturally as opposed to building a dependency on substances.
8. Your Screen Time
Focusing your attention on television, movies, video games, and technology affects your life more than you think. Media rearranges your values. It begins to dominate your life. And it has a profound impact on your attitude and outlook. Unfortunately, when you live in that world on a consistent basis, you don’t even notice how it is impacting you. The only way to fully appreciate its influence in your life is to turn them off.
9. Your Connections to the World
Relationships with others are good, but constant streams of distraction are bad. Learn when to power off the iPhone, log off Facebook, or not read a text. Focus on the important, not the urgent. A steady flow of distractions from other people may make us feel important, needed, or wanted, but feeling important and accomplishing importance are completely different things.
10. Your Multi-Tasking
Research indicates that multi-tasking increases stress and lowers productivity. while single-tasking is becoming a lost art, learn it. Handle one task at a time. Do it well. And when it is complete, move to the next.
Lead image source: Valentina Mignano/Flickr
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Greetings, I would like to humbly share with you the fruits of my sadhana for the benefit of the world, in the form of these philosophical writings that I started last month. This is my second deliberation about the well-known adiyogi : Lord Shiva, please enjoy and share, thank you! ॐ नमः शिवायः https://www.facebook.com/ShivaKnowledge

I Give Thanks
Thank You Thank You Thank You
We Are Not Of fractions
We are Refractions Of All Light
I Give Freely All As Merit To All And Everything Discovering Our Truths And All Beings Freely United As Ultimate Good Expanding Limitlessly
When We remove The Word People Or Person From A
Sentence,
A Homogenised Other Form seems to be produced,
A Form which seems to be Falsely simplified,
To The Point Where Worth seems Falsely dissolved, blames falsely attributed, Our
Familial Connection seems to be Falsely dissolved,
a false other on which it seems hate Or Love Can Be Pinned, without conscience,
a being we seem to be able to separate from our GOODness Uniqueness, Difference Similarity
This Is Our Unique Gift To Reality
As Individually Complete Beings
And Completely Individual Beings
Although Supreme Being Is Simply The Removal Of the word other
And With Knowledge Of Completion
Without a Drop Spilled Nor A Fleck Lost
To Be Cherished As A Father, Mother Cherishes Each Of Their Children, Yet All As
ONE GLOBAL COMMUNIVERSAL FAMILY
Wonderfully un real separation doesn’t Exist
Wonderfully Real FREE Unity Does
Simply Insert, A Real Person, Some Background, Someone’s Loving Son, Daughter, Father, Mother, Pillar Of The Community, Scared, Caring, Beautiful Being
Before our judgement and You Are Awake Here Now In The Moment
we weigh lightly our wrong
We Weigh Heavily Our GOOD For Each Life Gives To All Others,
Non Judgement Allows That Occurrence To Co Create, Peace Limitlessly
Unlimited Our Gratitude, Unlimited Our LOVE
Remember Nothing Belongs To Anyone But To All Life Simultaneously and Can Only Be Held By Giving It And Receiving It With The Gratitude Of Accumulative Complete Expansion Of Everything,
Terror is a False Fear Of Seperation, That When Our Memory Is At Peace
Reminds Us That We Are Sustained By The Same Air, Walk The Same Earth, Are Warmed By the Same Stars, Are Protectors Of The Same Precious Jewel, As One And The Same Communiverse
Thank You Thank You Thank You