A Simple New Year's Resolution

by Marie Vonow (follow)

Clutter (22)      Declutter (20)      New Year (17)      Resolution (8)      Simplicity (7)      Simple (4)     

Every year I make new year's resolutions. I even keep some of them. Some years I have a long list of resolutions. This year I have one resolution.


Yes, that's all there is to it. Keep it simple. I have a tendency to complicate things. Whether we are talking about resolutions, shopping, cooking, taking photos, writing, gardening or my wardrobe, I make life more difficult by making it more complicated than it has to be.

But not this year.

Confucius said, 'Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated,' so obviously people have been doing what I tend to do for a very long time. (Confucius lived between 551 and 479BC.)

So how am I going to keep it simple?

Remove clutter
I have been working on decluttering for years. This is a really good start to making life simpler.

Recently I have realised I am still holding onto some stuff I have no use for these days, stuff that has to be stored, cleaned and taken care of. Stuff I never use. Perhaps someone else could use it.

This morning I dropped another shopping bag of items in need of a good home where they will be appreciated into a charity shop collection bin.

Only buy items I actually need
Although I am a long way from being a shopaholic, I still buy some things I don't really need or too many types of an item. This means more stuff fighting for shelf space.

It might be buying several different types of crackers when one type this pay and a different type next shop or when the first type has been eaten would be simpler. Yes, I am a sucker for op shop necklaces and some have only been worn once or twice.

Buying only what I really need will make it easier to find what I am looking for, especially in my food cupboard and my trinket box(es).

Make simple meals
Sometimes it is fun to put together a more involved recipe but generally using simple recipes is less stressful for me.

Don't worry that I am going to make mistakes
No matter how much I think and plan, sometimes things won't work out as I think they should. Therefore I plan to stop overthinking things.

Stop trying to read minds
I often think I know what others are thinking. When I ask them I find out I was wrong. I stress needlessly so In 2017 I am going to ask people rather than try to read their minds. Better still, I might suggest they let me know if something is bothering them rather than worrying that something might be and that it's me.

Do one task at a time
I have tried multi tasking but it often stresses me. 2017 is my year to do one thing, cross it off the list and move on to the next thing. The next thing might be to sit down and have a coffee while I watch the birds in the garden.

Associate more with others who make life simple
I can learn from people who keep it simple and I hope I can contribute something useful to their way of approaching life.

I could make a list of fifty things to do to keep it simple, but perhaps that isn't keeping it simple.


# Clutter
# Declutter
# New Year
# Resolution
# Simple
# Simplicity

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