Living a more simple, intentional lifestyle gives us the opportunity to live less stressful and more full lives. Living simply can help us stop chasing the luxuries and non-necessities we’re sometimes after to focus on the things that are truly important to us. If you’re considering simplifying your life, the benefits are numerous, including decreased stress levels, increased health and wellbeing, and decreased obligations.
What is simple living?
When people think about simple living, they often think about clearing out their possessions and moving to a remote location to live off the land. While this is certainly an example of simple living, it’s not the only way to engage in living simply. The truth is that simple living looks different for every person who engages in it because our lives and responsibilities are so unique.
Simple living means living with intentionality in all or most aspects of your life to make your overall life experience more simplified and meaningful. This could mean getting rid of extra possessions, cutting down on debt or obligations, or even just finding ways to make your everyday tasks easier. However you choose to start living a more simple lifestyle, the benefits are various.
The Benefits of Living Simply
Decreased stress levels
One of the most obvious benefits of simple living is decreased stress levels. By simplifying your life, there are less material goods, obligations, or financial burdens to consider in regards to the existing stress in your life. For example, if you have a lot of debt to pay off, your stress level is probably pretty high, but by engaging in debt reduction, it’s one more thing you can get off of your plate and feel less stressed about. When there’s less to worry about overall, stress levels naturally decrease.
Increased time for things and people that are important to you
Similar to decreasing our stress, we open up more opportunities for more time and energy that we can spend on the things that are most important to us. Instead of spending our time focused on things that are not really important to us, we can utilize the time we have freed up by living simply to take a class, engage in more social activities with our friends, or learn a new hobby.
Increased mental focus
By creating more space in your life, decreasing stress, and focusing on things that you value, you create more mental focus and eliminate unnecessary thinking, cognitive challenging, and decision making. There are many fewer decisions to make when you’re focused on the things that matter most to you and get rid of things that you don’t value as much. In addition, you’re able to create structures for your life that allow you to shift your focus to other efforts.
Decreased pressure to live lavishly
Accepting a simple lifestyle also helps take the pressure off of us to live a lavish lifestyle, with all the new electronics, cars, big vacations, and big homes. If these things are important to us, there’s still an opportunity to engage in acquiring our dreams, but the pressure is off to perform for those around us, such as on social media or within our groups of friends. Engaging in a simple life puts more focus on what is truly important to us individually, rather than at the society-wide scale.
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