How to Simplify Your Life for a New Year of Greater Joy

It wasn’t until I had kids, that I realized what I had lost along the way in my life (that was causing me to just “go through life” without feeling fully “alive”). And it was not until having kids that I rekindled that excitement, joy and connection that I felt had been missing for quite some time.
 
I sometimes find myself spending pockets of time looking through pictures and videos of my children. As I was looking through some, when they were in their baby and toddler years the other day, I was thinking how it is so easy to forget—as adults—how amazing it is to come into this life.
 
As I looked at the videos, I recognized and recalled their genuine excitement for life.
 
I realized how, over time, we lose our pure curiosity, excitement and wonder. As we start labeling things more, we often no longer see their true value and beauty. Instead of looking at a tree, we look past the tree toward that next destination that we are hurrying off to.
 
When we look at our children in their moments of wonder, we can reconnect with our own faith and are reminded of the gifts of this life...and in those moments we naturally shift into a state of gratitude, which is an energy that aligns us with "something greater".

We can see our kids curiosity and their wonder.

They don’t label things until they are told there is a label (or name) to it. What they see is what is in front of them; they are in the present moment. They don’t just see a tree; they see colors, textures and the way the breeze moves the branches.
 
They stop and look at rocks, leaves and flowers and ask questions.
 
They want to touch things and feel things with all of their senses. They want to study a bug or watch a bird hop around on grass to find food after a fresh rain.
 
Everything is amazing through their eyes. They see the world through their own lens of gratitude.
 
This is something that we can lose touch with over time. We can get sucked into thinking about the past and the future. But if we take a page out of the notebook of our children’s lives, we can come back to the present—even if just a short time—and we can once again touch upon the beauty that each moment can hold... and feel more fulfilled.
 
And for those moments that may not be so beautiful—ie. an argument with another, annoyance at work, recall of a past event that causes you emotional pain, etc.—the present moment acts as an opportunity for healing. (* more on how we do that in a future article.)
 
I think the most important question that young children ask themselves, that we can all benefit from asking the same question is:
 
“What is going to make me feel happy?” (or “What is going to bring me lasting joy?”)
 
We can likely list a number of things.
 
And by asking this question, it does not make us self-centered; it is a starter question that leads us to asking deeper questions and declaring and redefining what we want for our life.
 
As adults, I have found that the most important part of asking this question, “What is going to make me happy?” is to include two important additional questions:

1. “How does this relate to how I am of service to others?”
   
2. “How does this relate to my relationship with God/Divinity/Christ/et al.?”

 
But to keep it simple for now, ask yourself this question. As you think about this new year and what you desire it to be… ask yourself, “what is going to make me feel happy?”
 
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