Seven Keys to Leading a Simpler, Happier and Healthier Life

Release all meaningless activities. Do you need to read the newspaper and listen to or watch the news every day? Is what you read, listen to or watch helping you create a positive attitude and the realization that through your own efforts and positive thinking anything is possible? So often the negativity of the news drains our optimism and makes us feel helpless in light of seemingly endless wars, calamities and insurmountable problems around the world. If you’re not going to personally get involved with one of these issues, give them no attention.

Release all unnecessary possessions. You’ll have to determine what is necessary for you. Those in the householder stage with children will have different requirements than empty nesters. Our true wealth is not determined by what we possess, but by what does not possess us. Our true wealth is not determined by what we have, but by what we can live happily without. That which we possess needs to be looked after. This takes time and energy; time and energy that could go elsewhere if we had less stuff.

Put your time and energy where your heart is. So often we do things because others expect them of us. Do these activities make us happy? Do they fulfil us? We need to listen to and follow our hearts. Then the whole world supports our every step, we are guided by coincidences, and we find true peace and happiness.

Grow some food of your own, preferably organically. In the supermarket of today we rarely know where our food comes from or how it’s been grown. Some crops are sprayed more than ten times before they are harvested and the chemical residues are absorbed when we eat them. It’s not difficult to create a little vegetable garden and/or plant a few fruit trees. Apartment dwellers can grow micro greens in pots using plants like garlic, onions, buckwheat and lentils. Not only will you eat healthier food, you’ll be reducing your carbon footprint and doing your bit to improve the health of the planet.

Get out of your car and onto your feet. How far do you drive to work? Could you find employment closer to home, or even at home? Time now spent in the car could be used getting exercise if you were able to walk or cycle to work. You’d feel better, lose those unwanted pounds and, again, be reducing your carbon footprint.

Discover natural ways to stay healthier. Rather than just relying on prescriptions from the doctor, heed the advice of Hippocrates: ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.’ So often the side effects of medicines are virtually identical to the symptoms they are prescribed to treat. Read books on natural healing or take courses to upscale your knowledge on how to look after yourself. You’ll save unnecessary trips to the doctor and you’ll feel better mentally, emotionally and physically.

A simple life is a balanced life, relying on a careful, dynamic interplay between activity and rest. It’s not for nothing Native Americans sometimes call modern civilization ‘Termite People’ because we are forever scurrying about. Look closely at the word ‘business’—‘busy-ness’. We often wear our ‘busy-ness’ like a badge. When someone asks if we are busy, it is expected that we are. Life is a delicate balance between activity and rest. Find that balance.

Put the above ideas in place and your life will be simpler, healthier, richer and more satisfying. This is an organic process, meaning that results come at the right time (which may or may not correspond with your expectations). Just concentrate on thinking and living more simply and leave the results and timing to God.