How to Live Life More Simply

1. 

   DON'T WORRY!
   How many of us have spent the majority of our lives worrying about something that we probably didn't have any control over? How many of us have thought to ourselves "what happens if..." or "what if I can't make it?" or any other of the millions of "what if's" that we have encountered over the years. And how many of us have discovered that all that worrying that we did didn't change the outcome of anything, that life just goes on as it was meant to, and the only thing all that worrying did was to give us grey hair and frown lines? So, my new goal in life is to once and for all quit worrying about all these things that I can't possibly fix, change or wish away. Why shouldn't we all do this?

2. 

   CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES!
   Hopefully, most of us have gained wisdom over the course of our life, and it's something that we all have tried to teach to our children. One of the most important bits of wisdom I've learned is to decide what really matters and what is just a bump in the road. Ask yourself everytime something or someone annoys you, "is this really a crisis or can I just let it go" and chalk it up to someone having a really bad day. Their bad day shouldn't become my bad day.

3. 

   KNOW WHEN TO GIVE IN!
   For those of us who know we are always right: well, I may be right but if something is so important to someone else that a discussion turns into a argument, then o.k., let them learn for themselves that I may know best but that I'm willing to let them learn on their own. And who knows, maybe I just don't always have to be right, I do know that I don't want to be narrow-minded.

4. 

   LAUGH AT YOURSELF!
   Have you ever known anyone who was always so serious that they never smiled, laughed till they cried or was just so miserable that they tried to make you that way? There are always times to be serious but the majority of our day should be spent making every effort to making ourselves and those around us as happy and carefree as possible. Why not, it's certainly better than being unhappy.

5. 

   BELIEVE IN THE POWER!
   Have you ever made a decision to do something, and maybe that something was difficult and might have taken years to accomplish, but you did do it, and when it was done you thought to yourself, "I can't believe I actually got through all that"? That is the power of one's will, and it should never be taken lightly because if you really want to do something bad enough, you find a way to do it. And hopefully, someone told you they knew all along that you could do it, you just have to believe in yourself.