Is there such a thing as ‘a simple’ … to anything! Granted it depends on the issue but even with the simplest of questions… is there ever just a simple answer? I’m beginning to seriously doubt it. Or maybe it’s that no one wants to commit themselves to something ‘obvious’ or ‘simple’ because life has ceased to be simple. Plus most people are relativist and respond with a, ‘… it depends on the situation.’ Talk about lame.
That may be a tad harsh. Look at your own life – can you say you live a ‘simple life’? Probably not. More important – would you like to? Yes… it does depend on your definition of ‘simple’ which is probably based on what you aren’t currently experiencing. Webster says that simple is: “naive, free from guile and vanity, modest” and then the definition becomes condescending, “lacking in knowledge or expertise, not socially or culturally sophisticated”. However, ‘simple’ may simply be a state in which whatever the negative you are experiencing doesn’t exist. But… do you know your definition?
Often people look back 5, 10 or 20 years and say that ‘those were simpler times’. I think the issue is that in those times they weren’t experiencing stress… or very little… or didn’t recognize stress for what it is and does. Stress seems to be the single most mention factor that people will indicate as negatively
impacting their lives. Difficulties would have existed ‘back then’ but not as pervasive as they appear to be now. Fact or fiction has little to do with it – it’s our memories from that time.
IF simple is influenced/impacted by stress then you have a starting point to reach simple. Stress reduction. While it can be argued that reducing stress is easier said than done, you can influence your own level of stress, even if it is only in how you respond to stress – emotionally as well as behaviorally. Actually, your response to your own situation has a tremendous effect on how stress controls you.
…but, what do you think?
