When life isn’t simple

April 4, 2016 by vittoriabalfour 3 Comments

Okay, we’ve all been at a point in our lives where we see the path diverging in front of us. Sometimes it’s more dramatic than that and we find ourselves at crossroads – evident choices or decisions.

Despite my desire to keep life simple all the time, I’ve been thinking a lot about the minimalist lifestyle I started and realized that I haven’t been able to keep it up lately.

I know I’m not the only one whose life sometimes runs off the rails.

I haven’t talked about specifics of my life, but I’ll share that I’ve had a lot of opportunities, choices and decisions to make in the past year and a bit. I lost a really good friend to cancer, I’m preparing for my daughter going away to live in Italy for eight months to study,  my partner and I got engaged, we’re planning a wedding, we bought a new house, so we’re merging our stuff – suffice to say that when my sweet man wants to bring a lot of his things into our new house, and the only answer is “Yes, of course.” Then in a matter of months when our house has become a very full house it’s not okay for me.

I’m sharing this to show you that I’m not a stranger to my life getting complicated and overwhelming at times. I like to use the analogy that my life is like an onion, and I’m peeling back another layer or maybe a few layers right now. While it’s all good, it’s a little crazy and I’m not keeping life as simple as I would like, so when my situation isn’t simple or another onion layer is coming off I’ll…

1. Simplify what I CAN. I talked about this in my first blog. When it seems like everything is out of control and chaotic, seek out the things that you can keep simple. Be practical.
2. Set boundaries. Our emotions and our time are valuable commodities. If I find myself feeling worry or anger over a circumstance, that’s probably a clue that I need to set some boundaries. We’re allowed to say “no” or “not right now.”
3. Minimize regrets. The takeaway for me is to do all I can to express love to the important people in my life and act on those urges. I’m grateful for Aldo, Julia and I finding our way through a new life together.
4. Take care of myself. I’m not high maintenance BUT that doesn’t mean I’m no maintenance.
5. Remember my WHY. Life can be difficult and circumstances can be anything but simple. But that doesn’t mean we let go of our vision. In fact, challenge might even be the catalyst we need to reaffirm our commitment to keep life simple and get  back on the wagon!

The floor is yours…

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