The Simpler Aspects of Life

Good evening ladies and gentleman

So we think, we wander and contemplate every little part of modern life,  down to the smallest detail. We are always doing it, from the moment we wake up, to the calming moment we drift off to sleep. This is where all our “overthinking” seems to come from. We are obsessive in our thinking- “is this right,” “What does this person think?” “Should i be alone?” “Am i alone?” “Why do i feel like this? “Should i be even trying this?- it could not work and i will feel terrible after! What am i doing?!?!!?!!”

And so on. Everyday, to differing extents, this is a part of life. Its almost as if we have become accustomed to living in a constant state of worry,  our minds living in a state of perpetual motion. I personally have found myself coming up with such grand ideas in the last moments of a day. “Tomorrow I will get up and do this and that, it will be a brilliant and productive day.” Yet waking up the next day, its as if motivation is lost, overcome by the weight of a single thought “this is reality maybe i should just deal with it” or “that wont work why was that  a good idea.” So the cycle continues.

Why? What gets someone to this point in their lives? Me, you, anyone. The issue at face value (read the title) seems simple, even in a world that prefers to appear so notoriously complex. Modern society seems to crave off there being different perspectives to everything, having four or five different moves that could cause any manner of things to happen. Do this and you could move forward, but it might not work and cause pain, do this and you could go backward but not have to deal with something.

There are reasons within reasons, we look for behaviors and ask questions of the smallest of details and the subtlest of changes. We try and see all of these things and manage them all of the time, meaning we are always thinking, worried about something, all the time. This can be a particularly exhausting way of living and is where the “overthinking” issue stems from. We are convinced in modern society that if something is considered “complicated”  that we are “better” or more mentally “superior” if we can overcome this massively complex aspect of life- so will seem so much better to everyone else, because ” I won.”

This can only really be argued as an unfortunate ego-maniacal aspect of modern society, the need to be better than everything and everyone around us. We live in a society where more is..more. Its better to have a better job, its better to have more money, a nicer car, a nicer house. We are convinced we all have to look a certain way and have certain things built up in a certain way to be happy, and to do this, we need to achieve something that appears so complicated and be able to overcome it, as if part of a great battle. We can end up spending weeks, months and even years fighting to get to that higher level, that “feeling” where all is settled and life is good.

Yet as we have previously mentioned the perfectionist habits we have stuck in place mean this means we will never reach it, so as i said- we wind up stuck in a state of perpetual motion.

As overthinking seems to be more a part of modern society in our complicated world, it can mean we miss the potential beauty there is in the simpler aspects of life. We are eternally told of how very complex the world is, yet its the way we choose to see it that can make the challenges of modern life even more difficult to overcome. I’m not saying we should try and entirely change our world and this will make us happier, but if we can change the way we see our world, how we feel about it and the wonderful people who are in our world then maybe we can feel a little more joy in the world and maybe even feel a little…happier.

I feel like we are so much more capable than we think, so much more powerful than we think. The world is complicated and is often not the happiest place, something that can drag us down with it, to the way we are “supposed to be.” The world will always have its complications, but what if we chose to see our world a little differently?  We should hardly expect a revolution in thinking overnight, but if we learnt to appreciate the simpler aspects of life, something as beautiful as a sunset, as wonderful as a view and brilliant as just being in the moment, living for that instance, with that person, where everything just feels right.

If, as a single human being, we can learn more to appreciate our worlds in that particular moment, feel that shiver of joy flow down your spine, the beauty of experiencing something so unique that your world is never quite the same, its as if all of the complications and issues we create for ourselves fade into insignificance. I cannot, and will not ever tell you how to live your life, or tell you “if you do this- you will feel better and be happier” because as you know, its up to you what makes you feel good. Know this, all i want is for you to feel happy and fulfilled in life. I feel like if we all try harder to appreciate the simpler aspects of life in a complicated world, maybe we could feel less worry, overthink a little less, and live a little more. If we can do these wonderful things and be a part of amazing moments for no other reason because we choose to, because we “like it,” then surely we should try and do all we can to do this? Why does there have to be another reason, layers in layers of logic and behaviors trying to be deconstructed to the smallest detail?

If we can choose to take that step, to understand that we always have a choice in the way we feel, then maybe we can choose to take pleasure from the simpler aspects of life, then maybe we can choose to think better feeling thoughts and all have our own, wonderfully unique, Thinking Evolution.

Yours, DR.

PS: I was surfing my social media the other day thinking about overthinking and how to overcome it, and i found an interesting blog by Bianca Adrienne. She takes an interesting perspective on what it is to be an “overthinker” and something i found to be particularly wonderful were her “10 ways to be happy.” She takes something difficult and makes it feel so wonderfully simple, yet filled with a positive power and energy. I will leave the link below and i implore you to take five minutes and have a read.

https://biancaayuu.wordpress.com/category/lifestyle/personal/

DR

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2 thoughts on “The Simpler Aspects of Life

  1. Thank you for such an uplifting post. As a card carrying “overthinker”, I try to remind myself to get out of the past and future, and return to the present. Sounds like such a simple thing, but like you say, it’s rather personal for each person. No one size fits all rules apply. We just have to find what works, and continue to remind ourselves that it is, in fact, a choice we have to consciously (sometimes forcibly) make in order to see again the wonder of it all.

    1. Dear Karen
      i love the way you’ve written about how we have to remind ourselves of the conscious choice to see the wonder. Its a wonderful thing to consider. Thank you. DR

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