the simple life -non-Paris Hilton version

Like knowing my demeanour, i always have a few tangents that i go on. Or maybe it is just a message that stands out for me in the week. Anyway i have really just felt strong about the importance of living a simple life. I bought my coffee at a shop the other day where they strongly utter the message to ‘live simple’ (might be a contradiction if you know which shop i am talking about but let’s leave it at that).

In society we have been bombarded with aspirations to this glamorous life of money, fame and everything that goes with that. But my point is basically that if that brought true happiness why is it that so many privileged people/ celebrities use drugs, commit suicide and need all sort of physical things to make them happy.

I just find it amusing. Statistics have proven that suicide will happen more often in privileged communities than in underprivileged neighbourhoods. It makes me wonder about our outlook on life.

Consider it like this. And please don’t think of me as cynical, but hear me out. We are born, we aspire to knowledge, we aspire to money, we gain all the knowledge we gain all the money... what then...  whereas different scenario, we are born, we survive, we grow through difficult circumstances that make us strong and develop endurance. We experience life in that. We realize that life is more than money. We live.

I am not trying to say that money is bad to the contrary, it helps in many ways. But the problem is our focus. I do believe that you can life a simple life even in privileged circumstances once the vision is adjusted. I might be a total contradiction in this whole idea too. But i read a blog called intellectual grind. It gives 8 reasons why a simple life should be considered here they are (click here).

I also read such an interesting article about a lady in Johannesburg being addicted to alcohol and drugs. She lived the fast glamorous life of money, and self indulgence. She said it was such a temporally enjoyment (like we all know if you consider that empty feeling when you awaken), and nothing could compare with the self-loathing that she experienced afterwards.  When she went for help she asked her mentor what she would do if she can’t have that Merlot in the winter and that Champagne on New Year’s. He never judged her he just said: Keep it simple. Don’t worry about all that now... just keep it simple.

I really appreciated even more now the life of the lily. A simple trusting life in God. I know i even try and complicate things spiritually with my Lord too but just felt this message of Him revealing to me: to enjoy Him and take Him in as much as i can and stop putting emphasis on : ‘oh Lord, i really want to stop doing this and that’, but to keep it simple and put the emphasis on Him and my vision. 

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