A Good Read

I recently finished one of the books the folks from Mayo's Fibro clinic recommended called Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. James. It was a quick read, a small book, divided into short well labeled sections allowing you to skip sections that don't pertain to you.

Living simply is something that has always appealed to me as a concept though admittedly it is something that I really hadn't put much effort into until more recently. I may not have ever been an extravagant person but there have certainly been times when I caused myself undue stress because I was living a fairly complicated life. I would say yes to things I didn't really want to do. I would work too much and even play too hard.

Living with chronic pain has really been the catalyst for slowly embracing and really putting effort into simplifying my life. I have completely changed the way to cook and eat, I've been cutting down on possessions and really trying to evaluate what I need to be healthy and happy. I don't answer the phone just because it rings. I don't answer the door just because someone knocks on it. Reading this book helped to really reinforce the changes I've already made and even offered up a couple news ones. Ideas on ways to simplify gift giving for example.

Simplifying life hasn't cured me, or even reduced my migraines but it has cut back on my stress levels and it has prepared me for the relaxation/meditation stuff that I'm learning. Plus it I've found that living this way suites me a whole lot better. It can be a challenge, especially early on. Fortunately, I've found that simplification begets simplification. The more you simplify the more you want to simplify.

I would recommend hunting this little gem down at the library if you're looking for some ways to simplify your life. It's also worth a bit of a chuckle as it was written in 1994, the early days of our modern technology. Interesting, this aspect of the book also shows how timeless these concepts are.