{"id":29375,"date":"2019-07-11T15:51:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T20:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/?p=29375"},"modified":"2020-08-23T20:42:22","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T01:42:22","slug":"over-complicating-simplicity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Stop Over Complicating Simplicity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is no secret that I long for the old days. I crave simplicity and yearn for the way life was before electronics burst on the scene and so intrusively invaded our lives. I miss pay phones, quiet rooms with no TVs or background noise, and watching children use their imaginations while playing with real toys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As crazy as it sounds, I love to sit in a dark room and listen intently to the sounds of silence. There is nothing I enjoy more than the things that do not cost anything at all. Take a walk with me, share your heart, and listen patiently and interestedly while I pour out mine, and I\u2019m blissfully content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I often feel that I was born over a century too late, and I am forever searching for a bridge to propel me back in time to that place where I feel I most belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, I have yet to discover a time machine, and sadly, there aren\u2019t many things I can change about this chaotic, fast-moving age of \u201cenlightenment,\u201d but I have discovered that I don\u2019t have to alter the world around me, I just need to change my world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can force me to live in a way that makes me uncomfortable in my own skin, nor can anyone else put forth the effort required for me to swim upstream against the current to live in a way that is counter-cultural. If I am going to live a simple, minimal life, I am the only person who can make it happen. Society will not conform to my ideals, and since I will never find contentment trying to squeeze myself into its mold, we will have to part ways and agree to disagree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps you find yourself yearning for the old days and would like to join me on my journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Identify how you want to live.<\/strong> What is it that you long for most? What about your ancestors\u2019 way of life calls to you the loudest? Is it the silence? The close bonds and family values? Their faith system? The joy they found in doing a hard day\u2019s work? The extra time they had to help others? The lack of clutter in their homes? The fact that they only owned what was meaningful and what they needed and\/or used? The small houses? The way they grew their own food?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Figure out what is distracting you.<\/strong> What in your atmosphere prevents you from living that kind of life? For years, my husband worked in the banking industry in very high-stress positions that robbed him of time with our family. Our indebtedness forced him to earn a certain salary and kept him bound to a job he detested. We view the outsourcing of his job last year as a merciful blessing that freed him to be a more hands-on father and to participate in finishing our 13-year homeschool journey with our son. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that he has accomplished that long-term dream, he is looking forward to getting back into the workforce, but this time, it will be on far different terms. Thankfully, we have made the drastic changes required to eliminate all debt, and by his choice, he is planning to find a job that will be less brain-taxing, more physically active, and with little to zero stress. What society deems \u201cmenial\u201d has become something very attractive and desirable to him. The pay will be far less, but it\u2019s okay. Thankfully, we don\u2019t need what we used to need to survive, peace is more important to us than money, and prestige is not something we seek to attain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Do what you have to do to make it happen. <\/strong>If you long to be more present and engaged, break up with social media. Start pouring your heart, time, and energy into the ones who mean most to you and socialize with those with whom you can talk face-to-face. Leave your phone out of sight and only use it when absolutely necessary. Refuse to be drawn in to keeping up with everyone else\u2019s online life and be more intentional about your own. Sell what you have to pay what you owe, so you can work less. Change jobs to reduce stress. Gracefully bow out of toxic, unhealthy relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduce overwhelm by learning to say no. Weigh what you long for against what is preventing you from having it. If simply is the way you want to live, you will find a way to muster the courage to make every necessary change. It is just plain worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Prepare yourself for criticism.<\/strong> Not everyone is on board with wanting to live a life of simplicity<\/a>, and you may or may not garner applause and support along the way. This is where you have to decide whether or not you will be true to your self and the values that are important to you, or if you will live bound to the opinions, expectations, and approval of others. A few years ago, my family and I made decisions that seemed far-fetched and radical. We sold our home, released most of our physical possessions, moved into a small rental that includes yard maintenance, and resigned from ministerial obligations that were more than we could handle. It took steely determination and a strong resolve to stay the course, but as we look back on our journey from a place of deep contentment, we realize it was the right thing to do and worth every mile. Like Christian in John Bunyan\u2019s \u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress,\u201d sometimes you just have to put your fingers in your ears and run for your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far too often, we over complicate simplicity and completely defeat our own purpose and desire to slow down and live a minimal life. Minimalism is the polar opposite of complexity. The very basic, but remedial truth is that the power to change lies within the wellspring of our own choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Author:<\/strong> Cheryl Smith is the author of the book\u00a0Biblical Minimalism<\/a>\u00a0the story of her family\u2019s journey from a life of abundance to a more abundant life. She is the author of the blogs\u00a0Biblical Minimalism<\/a>\u00a0where she writes about minimalism from a Biblical perspective and\u00a0Homespun Devotions<\/a>\u00a0where she writes devotionals and conducts \u201cInner Views.\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is no secret that I long for the old days. I crave simplicity and yearn for the way life was before electronics burst on the scene and so intrusively invaded our lives. I miss pay phones, quiet rooms with no TVs or background noise, and watching children use their imaginations while playing with real […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Stop Over Complicating Simplicity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Far too often, we over complicate simplicity and completely defeat our own purpose and desire to slow down and live a minimal life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Stop Over Complicating Simplicity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Far too often, we over complicate simplicity and completely defeat our own purpose and desire to slow down and live a minimal life.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"No Sidebar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nosidebar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-11T20:51:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-24T01:42:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/birds.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cheryl Smith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nosidebar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nosidebar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cheryl Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/\",\"name\":\"How To Stop Over Complicating Simplicity\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/birds.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-11T20:51:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-24T01:42:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2a303b564cbe87a676daedf334c623b\"},\"description\":\"Far too often, we over complicate simplicity and completely defeat our own purpose and desire to slow down and live a minimal life.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/birds.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/birds.jpg\",\"width\":940,\"height\":492},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How To Stop Over Complicating Simplicity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/\",\"name\":\"No Sidebar\",\"description\":\"Design a Simple Life\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2a303b564cbe87a676daedf334c623b\",\"name\":\"Cheryl Smith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0dbc9be04afe416b2021f76e7557463?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0dbc9be04afe416b2021f76e7557463?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cheryl Smith\"},\"description\":\"Cheryl Smith is the author of the books Biblical Minimalism, Homespun Devotions: Volume One, and Homespun Devotions: Volume Two, and she blogs at Biblical Minimalism and Homespun Devotions. She loves to spend time with her husband and son in the mountains, sing and play bluegrass music, and write.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.biblicalminimalism.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/author\/cherylnosidebar-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How To Stop Over Complicating Simplicity","description":"Far too often, we over complicate simplicity and completely defeat our own purpose and desire to slow down and live a minimal life.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How To Stop Over Complicating Simplicity","og_description":"Far too often, we over complicate simplicity and completely defeat our own purpose and desire to slow down and live a minimal life.","og_url":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/","og_site_name":"No Sidebar","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nosidebar\/","article_published_time":"2019-07-11T20:51:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-24T01:42:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/birds.jpg"}],"author":"Cheryl Smith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@nosidebar","twitter_site":"@nosidebar","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cheryl Smith","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/","url":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/","name":"How To Stop Over Complicating Simplicity","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/birds.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-11T20:51:09+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-24T01:42:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2a303b564cbe87a676daedf334c623b"},"description":"Far too often, we over complicate simplicity and completely defeat our own purpose and desire to slow down and live a minimal life.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/birds.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/birds.jpg","width":940,"height":492},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/over-complicating-simplicity\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How To Stop Over Complicating Simplicity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/","name":"No Sidebar","description":"Design a Simple Life","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2a303b564cbe87a676daedf334c623b","name":"Cheryl Smith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0dbc9be04afe416b2021f76e7557463?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0dbc9be04afe416b2021f76e7557463?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cheryl Smith"},"description":"Cheryl Smith is the author of the books Biblical Minimalism, Homespun Devotions: Volume One, and Homespun Devotions: Volume Two, and she blogs at Biblical Minimalism and Homespun Devotions. She loves to spend time with her husband and son in the mountains, sing and play bluegrass music, and write.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.biblicalminimalism.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/author\/cherylnosidebar-com\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29375"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29375"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30998,"href":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29375\/revisions\/30998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}