How to Simplify Your Life
By Kathryn H. Kidd
We have a topic request from one of our readers, who has found
that the rat race is just too ratty to endure. She is looking
for suggestions, and I know you won’t let her down. Here’s what
she had to say:
I am seeking
ways to simplify. I have started removing the clutter from
my home. Next I hope to organize so that finding things
doesn’t take half my day. Later I hope to simplify everything,
even my favorite hobby, quilting, by getting back to basics doing
most if not all of the work by hand.
Once I
received a Relief Society handout that read BUSY. It really
was an acronym for “Being Under Satan’s Yoke.” I think our
lives are just way too BUSY and complicated. I’d love to
hear how other sisters have simplified their lives and what blessings
they are reaping from their efforts.
Kathy Ramirez in Mexico
City
Over-scheduling is becoming a big problem in modern life,
and we as church members aren’t exempt. Many people just have
too much — too much to do, and too much stuff to do it
with.
There is a terrific new children’s book that was reviewed
in Meridian just last week, Is
there Really a Human Race? by
Jamie Lee Curtis, which points out to children that life is much
more satisfying when we slow down and try to make the world a
better place rather than speed up and try to accomplish everything.
A lot of parents would do well to read that book, and to internalize
its simple message.
I have known two families who left the Church because they
couldn’t schedule Sunday meetings around their children’s soccer
games. We are friends with a family in our stake who won’t let
the home teachers into their house because every single night
of the month is scheduled with modern dance classes, aerobics
sessions, basketball games, and band practice. Everyone is off
in a different direction. They’re so busy having fun that home
is only a place to sleep.
And lest you think I’m just pointing fingers at other people,
I have to add that I haven’t written a thank you note in several
years because my desk is so cluttered that there is literally
not enough space for me to put a tiny note card on the surface
so I could write. Enough is enough!
If you have any suggestions about
life simplification, please send them to Circle of Sisters
— pronto! Our address is circleofsisters@meridianmagazine.com.
Put something in the subject line that will let me know
your letter isn’t spam. And when you write, be sure to include your full name, city and state or
province. (If you’d rather be semi-anonymous, sign your name as
“A Reader from Michigan” or “Sandy from Timbuktu.”
The important thing is that we hear from you.)
Until next time — Kathy
