When I talk about simplifying, I often hear a cacophony of agreement from people wanting to clear out their garages or offices, get rid of a few children’s toys, or sort through their wardrobes to find those 80s skinny pants that frighteningly seem to be back in style and might still fit. (Listen. Those pants were a bad idea the first time around. Two wrongs won’t make a right.)
True, simplifying involves getting rid of too much stuff. The stuff we need to banish, however, is not just the mass of junk taking over our garages, closets, and desks. It’s also the stuff taking over our bodies, our minds, and our family time.
What does simplifying mean?
Simplifying means getting rid of physical clutter, resulting in a tidy home that is easy to care for and therefore more time for your family.
Simplifying means getting rid of the need to have stuff, resulting in less spending and therefore less debt.
Simplifying means getting rid of the numerous obligations that call you away from your home, your family, and your main priorities, resulting in less stress and exhaustion and more family time.
Simplifying means getting rid of misconceptions about health and cooking and learning simple ways to feed your family delicious, healthy foods, resulting in healthier bodies.
Simplifying means getting rid of expectations and the need for perfection, freeing you to enjoy life as it is, your home, spouse, and children.
Simplifying means getting rid of the worries that control your mind, resulting in a calmer, healthier, more stress-free life and a happier person.
Simplifying means getting rid of the chaos that may be your life right now, and enjoying a simple schedule with simple, realistic goals, freeing you up to be efficient, productive, and at peace.
Simplifying means getting rid of a lot of different kinds of clutter that is only robbing you of joy, peace, and memories with your family.
You may think removing things from your life is hard, but with each loss comes a gain.
Lose junk. Gain family time.
Lose a spendthrift mentality. Gain control of your finances
Lose outside obligations. Gain a calmer life.
Lose cooking misconceptions and perfectionism. Gain simple, useful skills to feed your family.
Lose expectations. Gain joy and contentment.
Lose worries. Gain peace.
Lose chaos. Gain efficiency.
Personally, I think the gains look a lot better than the losses.
We are embarking on an adventure to declutter our lives, simplify our kitchens, find joy within our homes, form realistic and flexible schedules, organize areas of our homes, toss the 80s skinny pants, and release the burdens we all too often place on ourselves when we clutter up our lives with stuff, debt, misconceptions, and obligations.
It’s time for some nitty-gritty simplifying. Stay tuned!
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Sounds like enough reasons to me–I’m in the process of simplifying life and am actually loving the process as much as some of the rewards!
I totally agree, Janene. The process is wonderful, very freeing, although at times very heart-wrenching. The hardest and most freeing for me have been eliminating outside obligations and personal expectations.
Of course, when removing physical clutter there is also the part where I repeatedly smack myself in the forehead and wonder why on earth certain things ever made it into the house. Annnnnnd there are the laughing fits from my daughters when I walk out of my room wearing something I found in the recesses of the closet that really should be banished to the recesses of the scrap heap.
Enjoy your simplifying!
I’ve reworked the closets and house stuff…the outside activities is where I’m at a standstill. My daughter is on a competitive dance team that requires too much time. She is taking the summer off and we are looking into an hour or two hour non-competitive class for her to do. Some competitions we are out of the house at 5:30 am. and don;t return until six or seven pm. No more. Never again. It’s a city program and the price is right, but we’ve decided our family time is worth so much more and we are willing to pay more to do less. make sense? 2 months to go and I’m in countdown mode already.
Congratulations on making a difficult decision for the welfare of your family. It isn’t always easy. God’s blessings on your new freedom!
That’s a great big-picture description of how to simplify your life. I’m finding that as I am trying to simplify in the externals, I am having to change my mindset about several things. Your post speaks to that.
Yes, mindset is crucial. I didn’t see much real improvement until I totally adjusted my mindset. That is often the hardest part. The details come later.
I totally agree with your simplifying philosophy. There are areas I need to work on, but at least I am aware of the need.
I wonder if there is any mother out there who doesn’t struggle with this.
I’ve been enjoying my time at your blog!
God recently moved us from a 3,000 sq ft home in Florida to an 800 sq ft home in NYC. I was forced to give away practically everything we owned – I was forced to simplify my life and it brought freedom. In being forced to purge my “stuff” – God allowed me to purge my emotional and spiritual “stuff”. I am very grateful for the experience that God brought me through. Thank you for this awesome reminder to “keep it simple”.
Great post. Visiting over from Women Living Well and a new follower and subscriber.
Blessings,
~Marie
Thank you and welcome, Marie. Such a beautiful name–my grandmother and firstborn daughter share your name.