Sep. 4, 2007 - The Tuesday Tip is.......SIMPLIFY

Ralph Waldo Emerson said," The world is enlarged for us, not by new objects, but by finding more affinities and potencies in those we have."

I've got the urge these days to simplify, unclutter and make things less complicated. The world all around me seems to want to add more and complicate my life. It reminds me of Lily's second Christmas when she was playing happily with a new toy and her uncle Richard wanted his present unwrapped and pushed it toward her. She shook her head no. He pushed it again and again she said no. Finally he put it in her lap and she screamed, "NO MORE PRESENTS!"  There are days that I feel exactly that way...there are too many opportunities, too many wonderful new tech toys, too many classes I'd love to teach, too many books to read......How can I possibly keep up?

Just the saying words simplify, unclutter, relax brings a feeling of calmness to me. Whether I think of them in the context of things, or time or clutter in my head, there is a peace that feels great in both thinking about simplifying and, of course, even more so when I actually rid my life of the unnecessary. It produces a lightness! I am asking myself "who said?" I needed to do all of this, have all these things? Is what I have and what I am doing adding to a more joyful life or adding stress?

On this month's The FSBO Real Estate Game™, two participants have identified as one of their goals to spend 20 hours organizing their workspaces. Is it time to tackle yours? Or is it time to throw stuff out? What can you do to simplify just 1 thing today?

Lao Tzu in his book, The Tao of Peace noticed,"Great trouble comes from not knowing what is enough. Great conflict arises from wanting too much. When we know when enough is enough, there will always be enough."

You also may be interested in thinking a bit more about being time effective: Here is a recent post from my ActiveRain Blog: Have You Tamed The Time Thieves?

Some fun:

Your 15 minutes of fame can begin here: NAR has a new campaign titled "The Face of Real Estate for 100 Years" and they are  soliciting photos of members to be a part of a huge mosaic of REALTOR® faces arranged to represent the Realtor® "R" membership mark. It is easy, get your NERDS # and upload a photo and you'll be a part of it!