“Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.”
~Lao Tzu
Every moment of your day, you have the opportunity to play with one or more of these treasures. This is a big reason why I love organizing, because I get to play with these three lofty truths down in the nitty-gritty of life. I´d say this is also why practicing minimalist principles works for me, because it makes these treasures more accessible.
Here are three minimalism-inspired ways you can play with simplicity, patience, and compassion.
The game is to frame the actions as acts of one or more of them:
1. Choose something that you have multiples of at home, and practice only keeping one for a month. (Give away or store the rest away). Examples are water bottle,to go coffee mug, one shampoo and one conditioner, only read one book and put/give away rest, one magazine, one writing utensil in purse. Re-evaluate at end of month.
2. Choose one day/week/month where you only buy the absolute necessities. (no fine dining, no entertainment purchases, etc.)
3. Choose one hour/day to be technology-free
4. Choose one day per week to eat ______-free (coffee, alcohol, meat, sugar, etc.)
5. Create your own!
It doesn't matter so much in how it goes, as much as what you learn from it. Did I practice compassion with myself or did I engage in negative self talk? Did I utilize the powerful question, ¨What can I do to make this even simpler right now?¨ Was there a break-down because I forgot to practice patience with myself, or with others inevitably involved? Or was it successful because I found myself practicing compassion, simplicity, or patience?
When it comes to organizing my life, I find that something only truly works in the long run if it simplifies, and has a releasing effect. It doesn't work long if it involves adding on. My life is already too full to keep adding on!