5 Things I Quit to Simplify Life | Living Simply and Slowly

A small dissipation simplifies life, each time. There's a lot of noise out there. Systems to build, habits to optimize, lives to perfect. But if the goal is to simplify, maybe it's not about adding more. Maybe it's about giving up what's no longer useful to us. 5 Things I Abandoned to Simplify Life Unexpectedly For a long time, I cared a lot about my appearance, what to wear, how to comb my hair, makeup, accessories. It was just an endless list to exist. Fashion can be fun, but no amount of clothes or fashion makeup can create the kind of confidence that only self-acceptance brings. So, I put aside the fatigue of decision. I kept fewer pieces, but more mine, in my wardrobe and put aside the hours spent in front of the mirror. And these little changes simplified my life. Giving up self-monitoring, obsession and appearance made me less critical of myself, more present and more down-to-earth. There's no problem wanting to be good to ourselves, but when we get hyper-focused on our appearance, we forget that we are much more than our appearance. True confidence comes from accepting who we are beyond the surface. When I realized how much energy I was wasting with my appearance, I began to realize how much I was caring too much about everything else too. The news, the economy, pollution, animal welfare, social issues, everything. I thought that being a responsible adult meant caring about everything all the time. But here's the truth that no one really talks about. Not everything is worth our time. We can choose our battles. Our time, energy and mental space are limited. If we disperse too much, we won't be able to make a real difference. Someone has to give up. Simplifying life means repeatedly deciding what is worth our energy and what is not. It's not about being indifferent. It's about being wise with what we have. After all, we will never reach our destiny if we stop and throw stones at every dog that barks. Choose your battles intentionally. I used to be my most severe critic. The standards I established for myself continued to increase, always distancing themselves, as if we were chasing a finish line that never arrived. And that didn't stop just with me. I started to be tough with others too. I judged, expected more and was frustrated when they didn't reach the impossible standard that I established. Then I realized something that really stuck with me. Judging others is like going to an apple seller to buy oranges and get mad when they give you apples. People don't always show up the way we'd like. Not because they don't care, but because they're just not willing to do it right now. And honestly, sometimes I don't either. When I started to offer myself more grace, it naturally flowed to others too. Less judgment, less frustration, less mental disorder. In life, it seemed simpler. Waiting for an apology that never came. An explanation that never came. Validation, I thought I needed to feel good about myself. I used to believe that if I could just hear the words, get the closure, be validated, then maybe I could finally feel at peace. But the peace that depends on other people showing up in a certain way is never really peace. Attachment doesn't heal us. It just keeps us stuck to what we're trying to overcome. Over time, I started to believe that what we put in the world, kindness, sincerity, understanding, eventually finds the way back to us. Maybe not always the people we expected, not always the ways we imagined, but life has a way of finding us with the same energy. This reminds me of an old Cherokee story. A grandfather tells his grandson. Inside each of us, there is a battle between two wolves. One wolf is anger, envy, sadness, regret, resentment. The other is joy, peace, love, hope and compassion. The grandson asks, which of them wins? And the grandfather replies, the one you feed. We can't always choose what life gives us, but we can choose what we cling to, what we feed and how to move on. Letting go doesn't mean apologizing to the magician or pretending it doesn't matter. It means leaving the shadow of another person and returning to your own light. It is recognizing that we are able to give ourselves what we used to expect from others. Thank you for being here. I hope this has brought something meaningful to your day. Sending you peace and warmth, and I hope to see you again next time.