My fiancé is a very interesting person. One of the things about him that really amazes me is his aspiration to everything simple. He doesn’t like when things are overcomplicated. He likes when the actual meaning can be easily found and understood. Maybe that is why he likes simple food, simple books, and simple movies. Even when he was editing my thesis (I have been living in Czech Republic for 4 years and still need my Czech vocabulary and grammar to be corrected from time to time), he suggested that I split most of my sentences into 2-3 shorter, simpler ones – that way the reader could more easily understand my meaning. He uses the same principle with arguments, feelings, relationships, etc. And thanks to him, for the past couple of years I have been also learning to keep it simple. And it has turned out to be quite useful.
I divide all my problems into simple parts and then search for a reason or a solution to each of them. For example, when I am angry about something I ask myself “Why?” When I find the reason, I ask myself whether I can fix it. If yes, I ask myself “How?” and then do so. If not – I just try to move on.
Feelings don’t need to be complicated either – they can be pleasant, sad, angry, neutral. If I am happy, I don’t need to find barriers to be less happy. If I am sad, I don’t try mixing that sadness with other negative emotions and withdraw into myself, but rather manage it and become happy again. If I feel confused, I often distract myself with something different then return later to what has confused me, and very often I don’t know what all the fuss was about.
Keeping it simple, in a way, also means avoiding drama. I have noticed how much we have been surrounded by drama lately – one little emotion or a situation can be a trigger for a whole movie or a book (or all those crazy movies with a purpose that nobody understands but everybody likes because they are trendy). I am not judging, I just hope that you don’t pointlessly complicate your lives like fictional characters do. Because, in the end, you will understand that all the worthy things in life are simple.
Of course, I haven’t changed my taste in food, movies, books, or even length of sentences, but simplifying all other aspects of life has helped me to distinguish the important things from unimportant ones.