From the book “God is in the Small Stuff and it all matters:”
Do you long for the simple life? many people do. It seems as if we’re all too busy, have too much stuff, and owe too many bills (mainly because we have too much stuff). If you’ve ever said to yourself, “Stop the world, I want to get off,” then you’re probably a good candidate for simplicity.
But what does that mean? You may hear the word simplicity and right away think of self imposed poverty or lowered ambitions. You may think of the simple life as an empty, boring existence. Think again.
Simplicity doesn’t take away from your life. A simpler lifestyle may actually add quality and contentment to your life. When it comes to your life, simplicity doesn’t mean poverty. Quite the opposite when you identify those things and those people who are really important to you, your life takes on more meaning because you pro-actively choose to do things that will increase the quality of your life. The net result is that your life is richer, not poorer.
For most of us, our problem isn’t that we need more. What we need is better. Do you have any things you no longer use or wear because they no longer add value to your life? Get rid of them (give them to people who don’t have any stuff). Is your schedule so overloaded that you don’t have time for those people and those activities that add to your life rather than take away from it? Learn how to say “no.” Learn how to prioritize.
While you’re giving stuff away and learning to say no, keep this profound thought in mind: The reason that our lives are so complicated is that we’re too self-centered. Richard Foster writes that “simplicity means moving away from total absorption in ourselves. . .to being centered in. . .God.”
God isn’t the one who leads you to a more complicated life (and more stress). You get there quite well all by yourself. God wants you to give the small stuff and the stress of your life over to Him. When you trust God and let Him take the lead of your life, you will find that your life will be more peaceful and more productive. You will naturally want to clear out the clutter to make more room for God.
Thomas Kelly wrote that our deepest need “is not food and clothing and shelter, important as they are. It is God.”
. . .In The Small Stuff
- Appreciate simplicity.
- Learn to have a good time without spending a lot of money.
- Satisfaction begins when comparison stops.
- Your needs will always outweigh your energy.
- While the poor dream of having riches, the wealthy long for simplicity.
- Anything can last more than one year.
- Don’t throw money at problems.
- If you can’t afford it, you don’t need it.
- Never let your yearnings exceed your earnings.
- Be as satisfied with what you don’t have as with what you have.
- Your wealth is measured by the fewness of your wants.
- Never buy something for the purpose of impressing others.
- Being deprived of something you desire is better than having something you despise.
- If you can’t live without it, go home and sleep on it.
- Make it a lifelong goal to remove clutter.
- What you are bears little resemblance to what you have.
~ Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz, God is in the Small Stuff and it all matters (Barbour Publishing Inc. Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683) p. 101-05)
(Posts with a preamble asterisk * are for a more general audience, and not specific to teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
