Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I can do to simplify my life. And most importantly how I can find happiness in that simplicity. I trimmed all the excess and as you read in that last post, tried to find beauty in the mundane, the everyday. And I made some changes.
And they are really just the biggest things.
I stopped stress-eating taco bell. I made yoga a priority. I studied, more (and better) than I thought was possible. I picked up my old journal. I listened more and (tried to) talk less. I slept. I crossed things off my long "to-do eventually" list. It's became this crazy, and to my surprise, wonderful feed-forward cycle.
I feel more like myself than I have in years. I feel happy and healthy. I am proud of myself for taking control of my own life. I had no help from the premise of "new year's resolutions" and/or Catholic guilt. (The fact that I didn't blog about it for a whole month is also definitely a big deal, you guys.) I woke up one day and I decided to let go. To let go in order to move forward.
I am really liking this new trajectory. (And how my pants fit again.)
And while it is so nice that I am losing some of that post-cancer weight I accumulated (probably from a little too much post-cancer celebrating) and it's awesome to smile at a test grade, what's more important is what happened when I threw out all that baggage I was trapped under. Because when I let go of everything I didn't need, I got my life back. And I gained purpose.
Now, clearly I am not saying that all of you should give up bread and take up daily meditation in it's place. (And please, pleaseee don't take the title of this post seriously!) But, find what's been weighing you down and give that up for lent. Take this time to be honest with yourself. Maybe it's a relationship, or maybe it's a grudge. Maybe it's gossip or negativity. Maybe it's unnecessary worry. Maybe it is bread and being a lazy butt. (And if it's all of the above, then even better).
Wouldn't it be great if change finally had a chance at some staying power. If in forty days you had forgotten all about this "trial period" and you, well, changed. You had found purpose, and you liked it. You had more time to think about the things that really mattered and do more of the things that really mattered. Because you gave up all the stuff that just didn't.
What if we all traded something bad for something better?
Think about it.
Liv
Elation- Isbells
What is this?
It's kind of like...
All my body starts to shiver
Worries will no longer have
Oh, I've never felt like this before
Got to let it go
I'll shout it out
I will sing it from the heart.
This is right, this is good
Expressions of elation
A state of mind of which I'll try
To re-echo from the start
Come on! Shut it out
And release it from the heart...
Oo-hoo-oo-oo
