We have been battling to keep all the plates spinning and, frankly, we have been doing a poor job. It seems that over the last number of months one job gets neglected because another shouts louder, then the next area of neglect starts screaming for attention. Having identified the problem we have been working hard on simplifying life.
Life abroad can seem even more complicated and can be a little more difficult to simplify. This makes it even more imperative to push through and reduce stressors.
1. Recognise the need to simplify
Our garden was an oasis for us in our first few years in Hungary but as our travelling increases, being faced with a jungle on our return hasn’t been fun. One year we had to take a look at the garden with ‘simplify, simplify, simplify’ running through our minds. We realised that we wanted to be able to sit in the garden and enjoy it. We weren’t getting to do that because the garden had become a place of work rather than relaxation.
2. Simplifying takes work
Here’s the irony, simplification takes work! Without the luxury of a gardener, we needed to sacrifice a few flower borders and limit the maintenance. Simplifying our lives required an initial investment; a time and monetary investment. Our new lower maintenance borders did not materialise without work.
It is similar in marriage. We can keep on going trying to keep the plates spinning, or we can pause and think about how to improve our lives. Often our tendency is to fill our lives with even more things to reach contentment. The reality is we often need to get rid of the things that are crowding into them.
3. Simplifying is worth it!
I love those makeover shows which show the transformations when a hoarder chooses to throw away the things they had been holding on to. The process is usually a difficult one but the end results are phenomenal! Houses which were unliveable become homes which are clean and clear. Their relief is tangible. When you let go of the things that have been holding you back in your marriage you will be able to transform your house into a home.
Is it time to bite the bullet and streamline your life?
Proverbs 24:3
By
And by understanding it is established;
