We can because we believe we can

The simple things in life……….

Friday, November 19th, 2010

 Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. ~ Confucious

All too often when life is spinning around us and the world in which we now live is engulfed with money, sparkle, glitz and glamour we lose sight of the real beauty of life. I am guilty of getting that excited feeling when splashing out on a new pair of shoes or handbag (yes I know many of you girls out there will relate to the guilt/exhilaration emotions when spending the cost of a cheap holiday on a pair of shoes!!) but the feel good factor is short lived when round the corner you spot another shop, with a nicer pair of shoes and kick yourself at making a dud choice!!!

Can you remember when you last marvelled at the smell or freshly baked bread wafting from the local bakery or noticed the way the sunlight reflects off a lawn of frosty grass? It’s all the simple things that we take for granted but it is these that make us glad we are alive!

 People often think of the word ‘simple’ as being boring and unsuccessful but simplicity is about making the journey in this life carrying just enough hand luggage to get by! Why would you want to drag a huge suitcase around when you have the option to walk with a spring in your step and a gleam in your eye lightly swinging a shoulder bag?!!! Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication; everything should be made simple but not simpler! Frugality is a word and concept that is rarely encouraged or understood, consumption society has made us believe that having ‘things’ leads to happiness and we have failed to learn the happiness of not having things.  

I often get reminded of simplicity when I am around animals, the way in which everything is slowly considered with a beautiful innocence. Things seem to come with a natural ease and pleasure, watching the way my horse excites over being presented with an apple, the consideration around meticulously biting pieces off, savouring each bit, the frothy ‘cider’ he generates that looks like he has eaten soap powder not an apple!!! such a joyful experience but yet so simple and understated. How have we managed to lose the importance of the simple things in life, freshly cut grass, the sound of the ice-cream van, the smell of bonfires and fireworks lighting up the sky. I wonder if my life would be more fulfilled and content if I remembered each day to celebrate one simple thing, a smile, a kiss, an odd shaped cloud in the sky……..

On that note as I always do I leave you with a challenge and a thought to take away, the challenge is to enjoy something simple every day, even if it is savouring a frothy cappuccino instead of gulping it down before the next meeting or surprising a friend with a card or a hug, embrace that simple thing and smile from within. The best things in life are the nearest; the light in your eyes, the breath in your nostrils, and the flowers at your feet, live simply that others may simply live.

I leave you with the most perfect quote that sums up my thoughts on this topic beautifully, until next time marvel at the crisp, cold mornings, the way your breath dances in the air, make the most of the simple things for they truly are magical.

Each day, awakening, are we asked to paint the sky blue? Need we coax the sun to rise or flowers to bloom? Need we teach birds to sing, or children to laugh, or waves to crash along the shores? Though we think the world imperfect, it surrounds us each day with its perfections. We are asked only to appreciate them for the simplicity and beauty. The Creator does not ask that we create a perfect world; He asks that we celebrate it.  ~Anon,

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