Simplify

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.
Hans Hoffman

"It's a gift to be simple". When we think of simplifying we often think of it as going without things, as depriving ourselves of what makes us comfortable and happy. We think of people who choose to live without electricity, for example, and we admire them but we certainly wouldn't want to do that for ourselves. We can't imagine our lives without computers, and lightbulbs, and all the other things that electricity provides us.

But the ability to simplify really means to eliminate what is unnecessary in our lives. We run into trouble because most of us have not thought carefully about what really is necessary in our lives and what is just a distraction or idle amusement. We don't know what it is we truly value, and what it is that we need in order to fulfill those values. We are too busy just responding to the random things life throws at us to stop and consider just how necessary those things, and our reaction to them, are.

When we eliminate the unnecessary, the necessary can speak. When we remove all the (unnecessary) hay it is much easier to find the (necessary) needle. What is unnecessary in your life and how can you get rid of it? What is cluttering up your mind, and your physical surroundings so that you can't find what you need to find? What is (literally) getting in the way of you living your values, and in the way of your success? These are questions we all must ask ourselves. Then we must eliminate those unnecessary things so that the necessary things can be found and expressed.