Sometimes, it seems to be difficult to fully appreciate what we have in our lives, because we just have too much… clutter. There is just so much that we can obtain, consume, and absorb, be it material possessions, news media, drama (our own and other people’s), worries and anxieties, etc. The sheer number of things that we are bombarded with everyday can take a toll on us if we let it, but we usually have more control over the extent then we realize.

Adding Perspective

Here are some questions to consider: are the people and/or things truly adding value to my life? Is any of it actually relevant to my life or am I just using the chaos as a distraction from other things that I need to do?

We can get bogged down with noise, because it has become a familiar aspect without genuinely assessing the benefits and side effects until we become overwhelmed and sometimes resentful. If our energy is tied down to those negative thoughts and emotions, it restricts our threshold for being appreciative in our lives. It essentially is like a tug-of-war where the mind primarily focuses on the negatives and glosses over the positives. In order to cultivate appreciation, we need to cut back on the noise to allow for room for positive energy.

Thoughts for the Week

Taking a more minimalist approach to what we expend our energy on does not mean to go all or nothing on everything which overwhelms us. It is a way for us to become mindful of the things that we want in our lives and scaling back on the things that may be irrelevant in the big picture.