Simplifying Your Thoughts: Simple Living Means Fighting Against Stress and the Thoughts that Cause It

Tonight, there's the big Republican debate between the presidential candidates and tomorrow, President Obama is going to address the nation on the unemployment crisis - and media rumors are that this will include spending more money.  Lots more money.

Next week, we honor the 10 year anniversary of 9-11.  Last week, we had hurricanes on the East Coast and earthquakes on the West Coast, and even as I type this, hundreds of thousands of areas of beautiful, piney hillsides near Bastrop, Texas (not that far from me, as the crow flies) are burning in an uncontrolled fire.  Was it caused by the drought? By arson?  What about all the wildlife and the homes and the families?

The Scream - Edvard Munch

It's all cause for stress.  

Stress, big stress.  And that's before you take it down a notch and start wondering about your own circumstances.  Finances, health, relationships, savings, investments, rising prices, what the future might hold.

There is a lot to think about, and lots of people are swirling those thoughts around in their minds without realizing that you have the power to decide what you will think about -- and that you need to do this.

It's accepted by most everyone these days that stress will make you sick.  Keep it up, and it can kill you.  (For details, check out lots about acute stress and chronic stress at WebMD.)


And what is stress?  It's your body reacting to what you are thinking.

Simplifying your life involves more than being frugal with your purchases or going green with your environment or becoming vegetarian in your diet ... simple living means having peace and joy and strength in your attitude.

How do you do that?  You become proactive about what you are thinking about and you stop letting your mind run willy-nilly over whatever scary things it wants to ponder.  Yes, you can do this and it doesn't mean that you become brainwashed or live a zombie's existence.

Simple Living Between Your Ears:  How to Fight Stress With Simplicity

I don't do this as well as I'd like, but I'm much better at it than I was long ago.  Here are some of the things that have worked for me:

1.  I stop myself every so often, and pay attention to the thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head.  Am I worrying about something?  Am I angry about something?  Am I afraid?  Then, I take hold of those thoughts and resolve them.

2.  I speak out loud to myself if this is needed.  For example, I forgot to mail in my car registration and here it was, September, and I've suddenly got an expired tag on my windshield.  My thoughts just baked themselves into a big pie of pressure, and once I realized that I was fretting about this in my head, it all stopped when I said to myself, "I will not get a ticket on the way to getting my car sticker, and if I do, then I'll just pay it.  This isn't worth getting upset over, I'll just deal with it - whatever happens." 

3.  I don't watch TV news, I read my news online.  Maybe it's still inflated and spun, but it's less stressful for me than all those talking heads who seem to vie for who can be more thrilling, for lack of a better word, as they ramble on about the latest horrific event.

4.  I pray and I read my Bible, renewing my mind with scripture.  There's a reason why so many have read this book for so long, there is true comfort and strength in its pages.  I think even non-believers can find good counsel in words like these:  "[a]nd now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." (Phil 4:8 NLT).

5.  I read about stress and thoughts to learn more about how thoughts do impact my physical health.  There's lots on this:  medical research (see this UCLA study); books on brain function and stress (see Who Switched off My Brain by Dr. Carolyn Leaf); and books on how diet and exercise are powerful tools against stress, promoting clear thinking and proper hormone balance (see the Hormone Diet by Natasha Turner ND).

One of the great things about living simply is knowing that you can control your lifestyle - even if there are others that don't understand why you are choosing that different drummer.  A big part of that change is internal, becoming a person of independent thought.

Some Days Will Eat You, Some Days You'll Eat the Bear.  

As Jane Armatrading once sang (listen here), some days the bear will eat you, some days you'll eat the bear.  We're all a work in process.

Hang in there, fight that stress, and if you need to see it on the screen, remember this:

Everything is going to be alright.  

(image from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Fear: How Scared Are Americans of the Economy These Days? Massa, Glenn Beck, the Survival Seed Company, and Lisa Scottoline

Yesterday, I veered from my usual day-in, day-out writing schedule and its corresponding mental whip of meeting my Word Count quota because a pal had let me know that Ex-Congressman Eric Massa was going to do two interviews, and the first would be on television that afternoon, on Fox's Glenn Beck show.

I waited for Massa to become a Congressional Whistleblower.  It didn't happen.

I rationalized this, work-wise, since one of my long-term projects is working with a book editor and an author on a whistleblower memoir (easiest way to describe it, "Enron-esque") and if Massa was going to jump onto a live TV show to be a Congressional Whistleblower on some mysterious corruption stuff, well - there was some sorta work correlation there.  Sorta. 

Nothing much happened during this Hour of Massa, however, whistleblower-wise.  Beck looked as disappointed and frustrated as those Congressmen during the Michael Corleone hearings, where the brother from Italy appears in the room, sitting next to Michael and suddenly, the snitch knows noottthhhing.  Remember that?  Godfather II.  Great movie. 

Then I Saw the Survival Seed Company Commercial During the Glenn Beck Show

What got me during the show were the commercials.  Lots of gold sales, that's not new.  But for the first time, I saw an ad for SEEDS.  That's right.  Seeds, as in gardening.  And, they weren't promoting the seeds for the beauty of the fruit, or the nutrition of the vegetables, or the size of the blooms.  Nope.  They were trying to sell me these special seeds as BARTER.  Better barter than gold, in case of Doomsday here in the USA.   The company is the Survival Seed Bank, and when I surfed around about them this morning, I found that others are pondering this event, too.  Places like BoingBoing and Steve Pendlebury over at AOLNews.

Later, I'm Reading Lisa Scottoline's new book, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog, laughing away ....

Skip to evening.  Look, the truth is that most of my time is spent reading or writing, I'm such a dull girl, and last evening, I was reading through Lisa Scottoline's new book, Why My Third Husband Will Be A Dog. 

This is one hilarious book - it's a collection of essays from Lisa Scottoline's "Chick Wit" column at the Philidelphia Inquirer.  Funny, funny stuff.  (Read or listen to some of this book here.)

And suddenly, Lisa S is writing about going to a website -- she provides the reader with its address in the book, it's http://www.whatsyourrq.org/ , and writes about taking the test and finding she's zero on the scale (and the average American scores a 4). 

The Readiness Quotient Test

Wow.  Oh, yeah, sure -- of course, I'm going to go over there and take the test.  At the site, I'm told that its the first test of its kind, to let me and other Americans evaluate their readiness for all sorts of disasters -- they mention natural disasters and terrorist attacks -- as well as providing info on what I/we need to do ... to be ready. 

(Lisa Scottoline is particularly funny answering the question, ready for what? Check out the essay "Disasterous" in the book. Page 191.)

Here's what I'm pondering:  how afraid are we Americans today? 

We've got commercials about seeds for barter, we've got a great writer - humor and thriller - describing her experiences with a Readiness Quotient. 

I don't want to be a lemming.  Neither do I want to be the proverbial frog who is placed in the pot of cold water and dies rather than jump out when the water heats to boiling.  What I do know: fear is a dangerous thing.  Clouds your thinking, monkeys with your response, all sorts of destructive things both individually and collectively arise from a spirit of fear. 

I haven't finished pondering all this, but I thought I'd share this much with you today, Dear Reader.  Fear is a powerful, sneaky enemy of which we should all be aware.  Looks like it's here. 

Image:  The Scream. Edvard Munch 1893, from PublicDomainClipArt.

Procrastination Is An Enemy to Simplifying Your Life

Simplifying your life means changing your lifestyle. Changing your methods of living life can be very difficult, even when you are proactively wanting to alter things.

When you are involuntarily simplifying because of a lost job or unexpected expenses, it gets even harder. It's easy to procrastinate. Especially when things seem overwhelming. When you're afraid, it's easy to be a deer in the headlights - thinking that if you do nothing, maybe it will all go away.

Procrastination is Your Enemy

Procrastination, however, is your enemy. Don't put off things that will ultimately benefit you and your family. Nothing good can come from it.

Hara Marano's Great Article

There's a great article by Hara Marano over at Psychology Today discussing the evils of procrastination, and I encourage you to jump right over there and read it. It contains such jewels as:

• Procrastination is a "profound problem of self-regulation." I never thought of procrastination this way before, and it makes good sense.
• Procrastination "is one response to an authoritarian parenting style ...," where controlling parents prevent the kids from "developing the ability to regulate themselves, from internalizing their own intentions and then learning to act on them." Without judging anyone's childhood, I like the idea that identifying your own intentions and learning to act on them is a kind of self-awareness and I especially appreciate the phrase "self-regulation." Regulation of one's self, instead of having advertising agencies regulating one's behavior by set society standards, is a key component to successfully simplifying your life.
• "Procrastinators "actively look for distractions, particularly ones that don't take a lot of commitment on their part." The example that was given was reading (or checking) e-mail, but I'm thinking video games and watching mindless television also count. Why do this? "They distract themselves as a way of regulating their emotions such as fear of failure."
• Procrastinators aren't all the same. There are the "thrill-seekers, who wait to the last minute for the euphoric rush;" the "avoiders, who may be avoiding fear of failure or even fear of success, but in either case are very concerned with what others think of them; they would rather have others think they lack effort than ability;" and "decisional procrastinators, who cannot make a decision ... [which]absolves procrastinators of responsibility for the outcome of events."

How to Change?

How to change? The Marano article suggests "highly structured cognitive behavioral therapy," whatever that is. Personally, I think that the power of prayer is of great use here, too. It's been my experience that faith can conquer procrastination:

• “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” -- Ecclesiastes 11:4 (The Living Bible)
• "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control." -- 2 Timothy 1:7 (CET)

What is Simplifying? Should You Do It?

Today’s news is filled with scary stories about the cratering sub-prime lending market, the dollar’s decline, and the plunging Dow. This has got a lot of people pondering ways to cut back on their spending, getting ready for a severe recession that seems more and more inevitable.

Tightening your money belt is a good thing, it’s a smart strategy. However, it’s very different from simplifying your life. Cutting back is painful; simplifying is freeing and fun. Maybe now more than ever, it’s time to think about simplicity.

Simplifying isn’t a new concept: the Shakers were propounding the benefits of living a simple life over 150 years ago. Janet Luhrs’ book, The Simple Living Guide, has had steady sales since its debut in 1998, and this April will mark the 14th anniversary of Vicki Robin’s famous speech to the United Nations, “A Declaration of Independence from Overconsumption.”

What is simplifying? It’s going against the materialistic mainstream and proactively living a life that you have consciously defined for yourself. There are many reasons for simplifying, and there are many different types of simplifiers.

For some, simplifying life means reducing stress for health reasons, for others it’s a social justice or anti-consumerism issue. Simplifiers can be as straight-forward as families transforming into one-income households so their kids can have a full-time parent at home, as well as someone deciding to buy only organic or locally-grown produce. They can also be as multifaceted as environmental activists, seeking to minimize their consumption of fossil fuels by living off the grid along with those involved in The Compact, where members have committed to buy absolutely nothing new for one full year.

Ed Begley, Jr., of the cable television show “Living With Ed,” is a simplifier. So is Julia Roberts, who took time off from her career to stay at home with her young children.

If the news of an impending recession has you pondering your way of life, and wondering if perhaps there is a better way, then you may be interested in simplifying. Should you choose to do so, know that it has tremendous benefits: there is a surprising sense of freedom with each step you take, and there is suddenly more time to do the things you care about. However, it’s not for the faint-hearted: you’ll have discouraging friends and family who will not understand this change in attitude, and you’ll have moments of being overwhelmed at the undertaking.

For those who have taken steps to simplifying their lives, though, it’s been worth all their efforts. Life truly is better without the call of the mall.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out:

1. In Print

Choosing Simplicity: Real People Finding Peace and Fulfillment in a Complex World by Linda Breen Pierce. Stories of those who have downsized their lives, relates their experiences and whether or not they regret the change.

Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Joe R. Dominguez and Vicki Robin. Financial guide, a landmark in the Simplicity movement.

Living the Simple Life : A Guide to Scaling Down and Enjoying More by Elaine St. James. Good, practical tips (cancel the newspaper subscription, eat at home).

Voluntary Simplicity, Revised Edition: Toward a Life That is Inwardly Simple, Outwardly Rich by Duane Elgin. History of the movement, discussion of spiritual motivations behind downsizing.

The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs. Must-read; describes all variety of lifestyles within the "voluntary simplicity" world.


2. Online

Everyday Simplicity (http://everydaysimplicity.blogspot.com)
The Simple Living Network (http://www.simpleliving.net/main)
Simple Living America (http://simplelivingamerica.blogspot.com)

Rising Cost of Living

Printing presses are whizzing along, sending more and more EuroDollars and American Dollars into the marketplace. To learn more about this, check out The Daily Reckoning's article today, by Adrian Ash, "The Great Flood ... of Money."

And, why should Simple Living Afficianados learn about such things? Living simply, and more abundantly, doesn't mean that we are ostriches with our heads in the sand nor does it mean that we're 60s-hippies-wannabes. It means we appreciate living smart, and that means living simply. Part of Smart means knowing the marketplace, and not being apathetic about its impact, or afraid of its ramifications.

Skeery Economy? Yes. Is it Smart to be Scared? No.

If you want to get skeered and all shivery about the economy, just go read these guys for awhile and then start panic-plotting how you, too, can move to Asia, or start stockpiling gold, or become self-sustaining, off the grid in the outback somewhere:


The Daily Reckoning
The Rude Awakening
The Housing Bubble 2
Desidooru Saloon
Economist's View

These guys sound savvy and on the mark, and they've been proven right over time. You should know what's happening here. And, yep, it's sounding bad.

Of course, you can read all this and choose not to fear, but instead to figure out what is best for you to DO.

One thing that's obvious when you just look at the foreclosure rates alone is that a lot of folk are having to tighten their budgets and live a different lifestyle because of events that have been thrust upon them. They're going to have to deal with grief and loss and probably shame -- that's a lot already without a big bunch of fear thrown on top.

They've been forced to simplify their lives, without the accompanying value and lifestyle choices that others have done in advance, like those who label themselves "Voluntary Simplifiers," for example.

People that are forced to live simply are very different from those of us who have chosen to live Simple Lives as a positive, proactive choice.

If you've chosen Simplicity, don't change now, just keep moving forward.

You already know how not to be a lemming, and you already know how to appreciate what you have, and you know how to implement change and not stay stuck.

If you've had Simplicity thrust upon you, there's lots of negative emotions to fight -- but it's isn't a bad thing to live a simple life. For lots of us, it's the best life ever.

Abundance and material wealth are two very different things.

Hang in there.

Everything is going to be alright.

You've got you, remember?