The 2 Parts of Simpler Living

imig @ 123rf.com

If you were to tabulate all the different methods that self-help books use to tell their readers how to live better lives, you’d find about a 100,000 that over lap and another couple thousand that completely contradict each other. So when I come across books that suggest a simpler approach to happiness, it’s always freeing.

Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D, is a writer who fits that mold; her approach to being happy is about as simple as you get. The question she asks to determine your happiness is straightforward: “what and who are we spending our invaluable resources of attention on?”

For the what portion of the question, she says to ask yourself what the main tasks of your days are, from start to finish, and whether they are nourishing or depleting of your mental energy. Of course “work,” a large portion of most of our days, is depleting, but its the things you surround it with, like eating breakfast, going on a run, reading a book, etc, that can equalize your energy levels. Contrast this with rushing out the door, watching TV, eating junk food or drinking too much, etc, that even further deplete you of healthy energy.

As for the who, Dr. Goldstein asks you to take an inventory of the people you spend your life with, and whether they are nourishing or depleting. Perhaps you spend too much time with a friend who actually depletes you of happiness instead of nourishing you, maybe with gossip or negativity. Spending time with people who uplift you can make an extreme change in your happiness.

As you can see, this simple approach to gauging your happiness and stress level is a great way to take a mental overview of your life, and make changes that will help you for the better!

Read more at the Huffington Post