Simple Enough for What?

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>SIMPLICITY and SUCCESS:
Creating What Matters MOST in Life & Work
Vol. 4, #8, May 10, 2006 All rights reserved.
Bruce Elkin: Personal Life Coach/Success Coach for 20 Years
http://www.BruceElkin.com
>View current & back issues of my full newsletter on my blog at
http://createwhatmattersmost.blogspot.com/
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“From naïve simplicity,
we arrive at more profound simplicity.”
-- Albert Schweitzer

Hi,
Cloudy on the island today. The air hangs heavy with humidity.
Still, it is a lovely day, filled with birdsong and the promise of
whatever the day might bring.

This week I want to talk about the relationship between simplicity
and complexity. And because me life is currently complex due to
good but unforeseen occurrences I want to take advantage of, I
have revised one of my earlier essays.

As my colleague Brent Beall, Bret S. Beall, CEO of Global Organic
Designs said in a recent e-mail, “When the Universe sends us bounty,
it is rude to refuse.”

Too true!
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Quick Take: “Love As A Simplifying Force”
2. Coaching for Creating What Matters MOST
3. Feature Article: "Simple Enough for What"
4. Emotional Mastery—My New eBook
5. Useful Resources I Recommend
6. My Speeches, Seminars, and Talks
7. The Last Word: Quotable Quotes
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> 1. QUICK TAKE: "LOVE AS A SIMPLIFYING FORCE"
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A couple I worked with described a complex mess that shifted into
simple, elegant order.

“We were in the middle of a bitter argument,” Celia said. “Al
accused me of things, and I accused him of worse. It got so
complex we forgot what we were arguing about. It was a real mess.
I didn’t think we’d ever get out of it.

“Then, suddenly, Al stopped looked at me with compassion in his eyes.
“ I’m sorry Cee,” he said. “I love you. I don’t want to fight anymore.”

“In an instant,” Celia said, “all my defenses fell away. I felt his love.
I knew love was so much more important than winning the argument.
My love came surging back. I threw my arms around Al and kissed him.”

Celia admitted this moment didn’t magically solve all their problems.
However, it did help them reconnect with what mattered to them.
And focusing on what mattered caused many of their problems to dissolve.

“They just melted away,” Celia said. “What was left were the core issues.
Buoyed by loving feelings, we focused on them from a creating stance.
By agreeing about what we really wanted, we accepted differences in
how we each created our part. We experimented with ways that let us
both get what we wanted. And it worked.”

Love is a powerful simplifying force. It pulls divergent thoughts and
behaviors into a, simple, easy-to-use way rise above messes.

Moreover, love is the primary driving force behind all creating.

“The creation of something new,” said Carl Jung, “is not accomplished
by the intellect, but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity.
The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.”

Creators love the idea of their creations enough to do whatever is
needed to bring them into being.

Acting with the force of love, couples can co-create what matters.

As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “Love does not consist in gazing at
each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.”
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> 2. "COACHING for CREATING WHAT MATTERS MOST!"
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* Do you feel you have too much to do, and too little time?
* Do you feel a bit lost in life or career? Stuck? Or stalled?
* Do you lack zest and vitality? Excitement about life and work?
* Do you feel overwhelmed by all you think you “should” do?
If so, you’re not alone. Many people feel that way.

* How would you like do more with less?
* To feel free, energized, vital and full of zest for life and work?

* Would you like to get unstuck and move toward what matters
most to you--in spite of problems, circumstances, and adversity?

 

* How about start projects, make transitions with ease and success?


* Would you like to feel great about work you love, relationships that
last, and committing to things meaningful in life, community and world?



> If so, consider my Creating What Matters Most coaching approach.
I can help you develop the skills, structure, and support
to find what you really love – and create a life that shows it.

> "An awesome approach to coaching. It not just theory, or
problem-solving. It is about creating what matters.”
-- T. Nelson, Seattle, WA

> I have space for 3 new clients in June/July. FOR INFO, e-mail me
a "Coaching Package" as the subject. Use the contact me link on
any page of www.BruceElkin.com
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> SKYPE ME!
Clients in Britain, Europe, South America, and Asia call me on the Net.
So do some in the US and Canada. It’s fr.ee to download, and to use.
Makes coaching calls easy on the wallet! http://www.skype.com/
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> 3. FEATURE ARTICLE: "SIMPLE ENOUGH FOR WHAT?"
===============================================
From a creator’s point of view, complexity is not a mess to get rid of.
It is not the enemy. It is the raw material of creating.

You can move through life’s messiness by focusing on and creating
what truly matters to you. You can create the simplicity on the other
ide of complexity.

However, that begs the question, “Simple enough for what?”

Richard Gregg explored this question in his article “Voluntary Simplicity.
His definition of simplicity contains clues about how to engage messiness
and navigate through it toward what truly matters.

“Simplicity,” said Gregg, “involves both inner and outer conditions.
It means singleness of purpose, sincerity, and honesty within as well
as avoidance of exterior clutter, of many possessions irrelevant to
the chief purpose of life.

“It means an ordering and guiding of our energy and our desires,
a partial restraint in some directions in order to secure a greater
bundance of life in other directions.

“It involves a deliberate organization of life for a purpose.”

The word “simple,” means “easily understood or done; consisting of
only one element or operation.”

Gregg seems to have understood that to simplify is to unify, to make
whole. Living simply was for him a strategy for “ordering and guiding”
his energy, desires, and actions around a singleness of purpose.

Simplifying was not about moving away from things but about moving
toward what mattered--toward what he loved and wanted to see exist,
toward what he described as an “abundance of life.” Like a sculptor,
he carved away the extraneous to express the essential.

Gregg’s purpose in life was to create a life of purpose.

He also knew that each of us must discover what we love enough to
want to create it. He knew each us must answer the question
"Simple enough for what?" in our own way.

The challenge for each of us is to craft our own purpose, envision a
life that supports it, and then wrap our lives around that vision so
all of our actions consistently support what matters.

Unfortunately, most of us do not live such passionate, love-driven,
and integrated lives.

An American philosopher, Michael Polyani, I think, suggested most
of us go through life doing what is second or third most important
to us because we’re afraid to risk failing at what we love.

What matters most is left undone. The fact that we fail by omission
seems to escape us. As does the self-respect and satisfaction that
come from doing and creating what we truly want.

Richard Gregg clearly understood the connection between simplicity,
self-respect, and satisfaction. “We cannot have deep and enduring
satisfaction, happiness or joy,” he wrote, “unless we have self-respect.”

He believed that self-respect underlay all higher morality.

“We cannot have self-respect,” he said, “unless our lives are an
earnest attempt to express the finest and most enduring values we
are able to appreciate. Therefore simplicity is an important
condition for permanent satisfaction with life.”

Simplicity was not sacrifice for Gregg. On the contrary, it allowed
him to express his highest and most enduring values. It brought
him the joy and satisfaction of pursuing a life of purpose.


Embracing Complexity, Creating Simplicity
I’ve known people who, like Richard Gregg, crafted a simple life
that expressed their finest values and brought them great joy and
satisfaction.

Marla, for example, is a writer, a woman of passion and purpose
who continues to live simply in spite of both social and personal
changes.

Twenty years ago, Marla, a high school English teacher, asked to
teach part time, but was refused. Frustrated by the trade-off
between the comfortable security of a full-time teaching and the
risky, but deep desire to be a writer, she took the plunge.

She quit teaching, cut her expenses, worked part time in a
bookstore, and focused almost all of her attention on a novel she
truly cared about, and wanted to write and publish.

“My life didn’t get easier when I simplified,” she told me over
coffee one afternoon at a street cafe near the restored cottage
she shared with her partner.

“In some ways it got harder. Focusing full-time on writing was
much more complex than working for a living, but it was a
complexity I accepted and enjoyed. I never felt like I sacrificed.”

She paused and looked out at the cars passing on the street outside.

“I guess it’s because I chose that complexity, rather than had it
forced on me. No matter how hard the writing process got, I always
knew I was focused on something larger than my self. And that
made the hard things easier. It kept me going.”

As we left the cafe, Marla stopped, touched my arm, and said,
“Living simply is not just about being frugal. For me, it’s mostly
about freedom. I need to focus on what speaks to me, to write in
a way that my readers and I both respect.

“It’s also about wholeness and authenticity. By letting go of the
extraneous and focusing on what truly matters, I feel my life is
fuller, more authentic, and whole. The richness and satisfaction
I get from living with such focus more than makes up for any loss
of luxury. I feel very good about myself and my life.”

Marla, like Richard Gregg, clearly understood the critical connection
between simplicity, self-respect, and satisfaction.
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Adapted from Simplicity & Success: Creating the Life You Long For
Available at bookstores and on my website at www.BruceElkin.com
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> 4. My New E-Book – A Great Resource for Creating Happiness!
===========================================
EMOTIONAL MASTERY: Manage Your Moods & Create What Matters
-- With Whatever Life Gives You!
Would you like to:
* Increase Your Emotional Intelligence,
* Develop Rich, Supportive Emotions,
* Manage Your Moods
* Prevent depression and anxiety, and
Create What Matters Most in Life, Work and Relationships

- With Whatever Life Gives You!
> Visit http://www.bruceelkin.com/emotional-mastery.html
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> 5. OTHER RESOURCES I RECOMMEND:
==============================
* MARKETING AND WEBSITE TOOLS:
Thinking about upgrading your website and marketing
approach? I've used these products with great results and
recommend them without reservation.
* For info or to purchase a copy of THE WEBSITE TOOLKIT,
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* THE ACTION PLAN TOOL KIT can make designing and
implementing a marketing plan easier, effective, and fun.
Go to http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=73714

* A GREAT NEWSLETTER BY AN EX-CLIENT OF MINE:
If you are interested in Health, Environment, and Negotiation,
please check out the eNewsletter HEN. Written by Julia
Menard, a Victoria-based coach, and mediation expert, HEN is
an excellent source of info. E-mail
with "sub.scribe HEN Musings" in the subject line.

* FR.EE VALUES and HAPPINESS ASSESSMENT:
Martin Seligman, author of Authentic Happiness, offers an
excellent way to support you in creating happiness in daily life.
Go to www.authentichappiness.org and do his Values-in-Action
Signature Strengths Survey. it will help you increase your authentic
happiness. I do it. It works.

* GLOBAL ORGANIC DESIGNS –
Discovering Earth's Science & Spirit (GOD-DESS)
Lifestyle Services for Everyone! www.god-dess.com
Register on-site for monthly e-newsletter to help you
> "Live Better, Live More, Be More"
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> 6. SPEECHES, SEMINARS, AND WORKSHOPS:
======================================
I am available to do keynotes, seminars, or workshops for
your organization or team on subjects such as:
• Creating What Matters Most in Life and Work
• Making it Flow: Integrating Life and Work
• Emotional Mastery: How to Manage Your Moods and
Create What Matters—With Whatever Life Gives You!
• Sustainable Success: From Solving Problems to Creating
A Rich Yet Simple, Healthy and Sustainable Life & World
> Call 250-537-1177 or e-mail me to discuss your needs.




> 7. THE LAST WORD: QUOTABLE QUOTES
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“The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be
joyful, rich, and creative, it isn't simple.”
-- Doris Janzen Longacre

"Simplicity is the highest quality of expression. It is that
quality to which art comes in its supreme moments. It makes
the final stage of growth. It is the rarest, as it is the most
precious result which men secure in their self-training.”
-- Lao Tzu

"Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world;
it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius."
-- George Sand

I do not think that any civilization can be called complete until
it has progressed from sophistication to unsophistication, and
made a conscious return to simplicity of thinking and living.
- Lin Yutang

"Out of clutter, find Simplicity.
From discord, find Harmony.
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."
-- Albert Einstein

Making the simple complicated is commonplace;
making the complicated simple,awesomely simple, that's creativity.
-- Charles Mingus
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All the best!
Bruce
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>BRUCE ELKIN: Personal/Professional Results Coach
Author:- Simplicity & Success: Creating the Life You Long For
- Emotional Mastery: Manage Your Moods & Create What
Matters--With Whatever Life Gives You
> http://www.BruceElkin.com 250-537-1177 Skype Me!
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All material herein is copyright © Bruce Elkin, 2006.
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