posted by Sarah Chia

It’s ancient Greek wisdom that has been recapitulated time and time again:  Know Thyself.

Socrates quoted the axiom and stated it another way by saying, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”

This concept is so closely related to the idea of developing a life of simplicity because even in the simplicity movement, there are different ideas about what simplicity is.  Some view simplicity as owning nothing more than what can fit in a backpack.  To others, it is organic food and homemade cleaners.  Some find simple pleasure in the calm of country living, while others enjoy the ability to walk and ride where they need to go in their city neighborhood.

But simplicity can be and is all of this.  None of us can accomplish everything that simplicity can be, particularly in those instances when two parts of it are mutually exclusive (see above re: city living/country living).

That’s a fact.  What we do with that fact is what can make or break our enjoyment of the simple life we are carving out.

We can either compare ourselves to someone who finds simplicity in a different way – thereby always finding something to which we don’t measure up – or we can appreciate the diversity of the world and the places that we fit into the scope of it.

I’m one of those people that believes there’s more to life than what we can experience with our physical senses.  And I believe that each person has gifts and abilities and purposes unique to them.

So, may I encourage you as you pursue simplicity?

Pursue it in your way, finding ideas from others, but realizing that you are a unique individual whose simplicity will look different than someone else’s.

Know yourself and you will know how simplicity should look in your life.