Thursday, August 12, 2010

Simple Life

There's nothing like going on vacation, with a few days worth of clothes in a suitcase, and no kitchen to prepare your foods, to remind you of how little you actually need in life.

I must be at that age when minimalism is so much more attractive than my younger years of wanting to posess, collect, and hoard. Maybe I'm feeling more secure than ever and I don't need all of those extra "things". Wanting and needing are two different things, and as I continue to "want" certain things in my life, my "needing" seems to be less and less and less.

This feeling is most evident in my relationship with food.

It's 5:00am and I just finished grilling some garden fresh yellow squash I picked up from Wayne's garden yesterday. (this was the first time this season I've been over there) Squash is sweetest when cooked as close to harvest as possible, as it's natural sugars start to turn to starch the longer you store it after picking it.....that's not the point though......

The point is that on vacation I was able to enjoy some really good foods....and some really bad foods! And you know what? A couple of things.....

Life is too short to eat crap you don't like. And that means certain "diet foods" we eat only because we think they're going to help us lose weight. That also means we don't eat certain foods because we think they will make us fat.....like sugar, carbs, wheat, fat, etc....

We have an abundance of incredibly yummy foods, practically anytime we want them. Our food wishes are at our command (I know mine are) There are too many choices, and they're all good, and good for us, because not only does food nourish our bodies, food nourishes our souls. Trust that whatever foods you want are there for you whenever you want them, and they will be. There's no need to posess alot of food, or collect and hoard more food than we need.

What does all of this have to do with a "simple life"?

We overcomplicate things. We overthink things. We try to over perfect our lives, and in the process we "work hard, not smart". I'm tired, and you know what else? It doesn't work for me! Things work so much better when I let go....when I surrender to simplicity. When I trust that I am capable of making good choices.....the right choices.

What are the right choices? The right choices are vegetables when I need vegetables, candy when I need candy....both are right, both are good. Simple.

I want a simple life. I want a good life. Oops...I already have it!

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