Are we able to breathe fresh air in a world crowded with choices and obligations?
What is life? What are we doing here? What are we supposed to do? What is our purpose? Who made the rules?….and so on and on and on….the questions continue. Are we really living? OR do we merely exist? Do we eat to live or live to eat? , are a few questions that must have crossed the minds of you and me and many others in a lifetime. So, is our life a complexity or do we make it complex? What is simple living? When it comes to simplicity, why do we suddenly find it so complex?
Well, to each his/her own.
In the hustle and bustle of life, where majority of us are privileged to live a far more than a comfortable life, how often have we bowed our heads in gratitude or just helped an old crossing the road or chased a firefly or got our feet muddy in the rain…..? Big things grow from little things is all said and done. We often hear “I want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and live a quiet and simple life in some remote area.” Millions of people don’t have the money to travel from a small town to another. They walk miles everyday. Maybe that’s why they possess stronger bodies and immunity. I daily see people living in a small hut, yet so content, street children dancing in the rain so happy.
Simplicity is simply being “simple”. Isn’t it? How happy is a stone that rambles on the road alone or How happy is a bird who can sing her own song? We all strive for freedom rather than being slaves. Our ego’s rule us. We might desire a thousand things but will we be satisfied if we got all these thousand things we asked for? If life around us happened the way we want, the gravity between our wants and needs will be unstable.
Apparently, being simple is NOT that simple. It is not the material possessions that can make one happy, but it’s how content one can be with even the little he/she might possess. It is not the talent or the knowledge that our minds would gather to brag about, but its how we apply what we have learnt. Money is a necessity but these days it is considered to be a glory of status that would give you a higher place in the society. We all get so hassled working where and how to invest our money, what to do with it! Some are just lucky to vile away that one has earned and many would strive to work towards their child’s education. Well, Money is not bad. It’s about how one puts it to use. There are some who enjoy luxury given to them in a silver spoon or as inheritance. On the contrary, there are some who struggle each day to earn their living, running barefoot on a sunny day or pulling a cart with sore feet, to barely earn a two or three zero figure a month while many of us zoom away in our cars to an air conditioned office, lucky enough to get a four or five figure salary in our bank account. Well, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t. We have made an effort to educate ourselves to lead a comfortable life as well.
Today’s world has many luxuries that are supposed to make life easier. At times they may, but other times, they make things more complicated. When people hear about simplifying life, they may think it means moving into a home in the middle of the woods and living off the land. No, you don’t need to live a life on the top of the Himalayas to be simple.
There are people who own the biggest bungalows and the most luxurious cars and phones but are humble. Yes they are simple. A small walk at a beach or reading a book would give them happiness. For me, chasing butterflies, being around nature makes me feel happy.
To be able to find freedom in simplicity, you need to trust that if you only had one pair of trousers, you’d be still okay if they got ripped. Also if you didn’t stockpile onions, you’d be able to borrow one when you needed to. These days if one doesn’t hold an account on Facebook or Twitter or isn’t active on the so called social media, you are considered being “puraane khayaal” ke. Well, it’s a taboo that we hold.
Your worth isn’t measured by the brand of clothes you wear or whether you possessed the latest IPad.