I have always thought of myself as a simple person. While I also have an eye for the finer things in life, I make sure to live within (and sometimes even below!) my means. In fact, I still hate it when I go impulse shopping, but lately, I’ve been reminding myself that it’s okay to indulge once in a while and reward myself for my hard work all these years. So yeah, I can say I’m still the simple Edel that my family and true friends know by heart.
This 2021, my personal theme is simplicity. I’ve always wanted an uncomplicated life. Part of my wanting it is due to my being a mother now. The other part is due to my laziness, hahaha. To achieve something, you have to make a great deal of effort, right? I might sound arrogant saying this — what Edel wants, Edel gets. But I’ve always believed in this mantra. I feel that if I’d set my eyes on something, I’d get it. And that if I’d settle for second best, that’s what I’d only get. In short, what you reap, you sow.
I strongly believe that the life I have now is a product of God’s grace and the amount of hard work I put into it. God knows how much successes and failures I can handle. God knows the perfect time for everything. And so with this knowledge, I’ve been praying to God to give me a simple but rich life for as long as I can remember. Simple in the sense that I don’t have to think about a lot of things and rich not only in health and wealth but also in spirit.
Now that I have my own little family, my goal is to live as simply as possible. While I want baby NJ to have a good and comfy life, I also want her to live simply and not complicate life. Of course, she can dream big but she should understand that there’s more to life than success and material things. That she should always prioritize those things that money can’t buy such as family, good health, and happiness. That she should always treat people equally and with kindness regardless of what their status in life is. That being simple ain’t boring and cheap. That living simply is easy, fun, and meaningful.
trying to live simply and happily with my little family
I figured, with simplicity being my one word this year, I’d be able to focus more on what really matters in life. I’m sure a lot of you will agree that the pandemic we’re in today has made us realize how easy it is for the people and things we value the most to be taken away from us. In the blink of an eye, we can go from rich to poor, powerful to powerless, well to sick, and worse, alive to dead. Just thinking about how vulnerable we are to nature makes me want to cherish every moment with my loved ones. We never know how long we could stay covid-free, right? And if we did catch the virus, we never know if we could survive from it because vaccines remain inaccessible to most of us. Only the one above knows. And so as we continue living, we should continue holding on to our faith. And I’d rather not complicate things by having a cluttered mind. I’d rather live simply while observing health protocols and encourage my loved ones to do the same.
While I’m far from being a minimalist (yeah, I’m still a minimalist wannabe!), I still love the concept of minimalism and how it espouses simplicity. I see many perks in living a simple life. For one, I could be myself and satisfy myself alone without the need to impress other people. I could do more things with less stuff and without wasting resources. And the most important thing? I could spend more quality time with my little one because my house and my mind are clutter-free.
Living simply also means less splurges and indulgences which will equate to less money spent. We are slowly building our retirement funds again after spending a lot on my pregnancy and the birth of our rainbow baby. Baby NJ’s daily sustenance alone entails a good amount of money these days. I wasn’t really informed raising a child can be this expensive, hahaha. Her pedia visits (for check-ups and vaccines) isn’t cheap, either. So yeah, I think living simply this 2021 and beyond is going to be beneficial to me as it will help me save some moolahs (short-term) and live life to the fullest (long-term).
How about you, what is your personal theme or one word this year? 🙂
P.S. In 2020 when the pandemic started, my personal theme was life. Click it and read on to know why.
May you choose happiness always,
