Living Simple 简单生活

Moving into the new year, we must ponder the question: How should we live? This question is usually hidden in our minds because no fixed knowledge can solve it. Instead, we must seek answers based on unique experiences and wisdom. For me, the most crucial element of acquiring happiness is to live simple.

To live simple is no easy task. Based on my experience in the past year, the first way to do so is to bend your attention and focus inwards. It seems that we have a lot of “important work” each day, getting a 1580+ on the SAT, finishing perfect in the latest assessment task in school, and for adults, toiling away at work, trying to get a promotion or raise in wages. However, we must realize that there are significant differences between the importance of an activity and the enjoyment it brings. Not all “important work” brings immense pleasure or comfort. Quite on the opposite side, the activities we intrinsically enjoy might not be crucial in the short term. But these activities that bring true joy, such as playing the piano, reading a thriller novel, or making a delectable dish, are the ones that we must devote more time to. 

We should have the courage to relieve ourselves from a mode of thinking that prioritizes every “important task”. Excessive amounts of “important tasks” bear no good to the body and mind. For example, in a day, if one tries to convince a teacher to give them a perfect score, then participate fully in an unforgiving debate tournament, then complete a whole set of challenging math problems, that person would suffer from a lot of mental friction and would not have the energy to deal with the positive details in life. We should stop organizing a day like this. We must look and reflect inwards, finding endeavors we are passionate about. We must fill more of our time with these endeavors. They will clear our minds and lighten our souls, further allowing us to live simple.

Another aspect of bending attention and focusing inward is to heed less gossip and the daily flashes of events. The internet can feed us hundreds or even thousands of pieces of information each day. If we notice every one of these bits of information, then at the end of the day, we will be left exhausted. These pieces of gossip also take away time and our will to discover our identities that are not stripped apart by the internet. An obsession with gossip means that one does not own his life but lets others control it, which significantly complicates each day. Shutting down some of these information outlets gives you greater room for self-contemplation and peace and is crucial to living simple.

Another way to live modestly is to spend more time in nature. As human beings, we are innately bonded to nature. Nature is our benevolent mother, able to clear the nuances and agonies that hover over our lives. For example, if you meditate or walk along a stream in a quiet forest for an entire morning without doing anything else, the water trickling would make you feel more at peace. When you swim in the open ocean, the water surrounds you. At that moment, you would only marvel at the power of the waves to create a simple rhythm that beats alongside your heart. Nature delivers an organic happiness that can magically take hold of our minds. More importantly, strolling in nature, you can find that it is easy to procure happiness. One sometimes just needs to bathe in sunlight. 

Even if we are not physically in nature, we can still aim to achieve that mental state to live simple. The way of nature teaches us the power of “naivety”. We feel at ease and satisfied in nature thanks to the naivety that we display in that environment. We honestly give our spirits to the natural surroundings and immerse ourselves in them. In other situations, when people tackle interpersonal relations or multi-step work, it is imperative to display that “naivety” to navigate through. For instance, we sometimes have to communicate with a person that has a ferocious personality. One tends to camouflage or disguise their words during opportunities to communicate. Doing so, unfortunately, can lead to unintended consequences. Communication can be more unobstructed as long as we show more of our “naivety”. We can be more open in revealing our true intentions and more respectful and honest in our wording. Applying this mentality to other areas in life would simplify matters and calm anxious minds.

Overall, directing more of our curiosity inwards and experiencing nature are two methods that can help with living simple. There is no fixed formula. It is vital that people adjust based on the actual situation, as life can be overwhelming and fast-changing. However, as long as we constantly think about this concept of “simplicity”, we will be driven to act towards that end goal. The journey can often prove to be equally or even more valuable than the end goal.

进入新的一年，我们必须思考我们应该如何生活。这个问题通常隐藏在我们的脑海中，因为没有固定的知识可以解决它。相反，我们必须根据独特的经验和智慧来寻求我们的答案。对我来说，获得幸福最重要的方法就是简单生活。 

简单生活并非易事，根据我过去一年的经验，简单生活的第一个方法是将注意力向内聚焦，而不是向外。看起来我们每天有数不清的“重要任务”，例如在SAT考试中取得1580分以上的成绩，在学校最新的评估任务中拿到高分，在辩论比赛中获奖，对于成年人来说，在工作中苦苦挣扎，获得更多的认可，赚取更多的薪水等等。但我们必须清醒的认识到，“重要任务”和它带来的享受程度是有区别的。并非所有这些“重要任务”都能带来巨大的快乐或舒适。相反，那些我们真正喜欢的、在短期内看起来不那么重要的活动恰恰是我们最需要做的，如弹钢琴、慢阅读、做一顿可口的饭菜……,

想要活得简单，我们必须有勇气把自己从清单化的“重要任务”中解放出来。过多的“重要任务”对我们的身体和精神没有好处。例如，在一天中，如果我们竭尽全力地试图说服老师给我们一个完美的分数，然后全力以赴地参加一场激烈的辩论赛，再去完成一套套无休无止的数学习题……,虽然最终的结果可能令人满意，但我们会遭受大量的精神内耗，没有精力去处理生活中正向的细节。我们应该停止组织这样的一天，我们必须向内看，向内反思，找到我们内在真正热衷的事业，这是不可或缺的。我们必须用这些真正的所爱来填补我们更多的时间，它们将使我们的头脑清醒，使我们的灵魂轻盈，进一步使我们的生活变得简单。

将注意力向内聚焦的另一个方面是少听闲言碎语和每日闪现的事件。互联网每天能够向我们提供数百甚至数千条信息。如果我们注意到这些信息的每一个片段，那么在一天结束时，我们会感到疲惫不堪。这些碎片化的信息也夺走了我们的时间和发现自己未被互联网剥离开来的身份的意愿。对八卦的痴迷意味着一个人并不拥有自己的生活，而是让别人控制自己的生活，这让每一天都变得非常复杂。关闭其中一些信息渠道会给你更大的空间进行自我思考并恢复平静，这也是迈向简单生活的关键一步。

另一种简单生活的方式是花更多时间在大自然中。作为人类，我们天生就与自然紧密相连。大自然是人类精神的慈母，它有能力清除盘旋在我们生活中的琐事和痛苦。例如，如果你在安静的森林中打坐或沿着溪流走一整个上午而不做其他事情，水的涓涓细流会让你感到更加安宁。当你在开放的海洋中游泳时，水环绕着你。在那一刻，你只会惊叹于海浪的力量，它创造出一种简单的节奏，与你的心脏一起跳动。大自然提供了一种有机的幸福，可以神奇地占据我们的心灵。更为重要的是，在自然中行走，你会发现原来一个人获得幸福非常简单，只需要迈开腿，沐浴在阳光中即可。

即使我们不在大自然中，我们仍然可以以实现这种精神状态为目标，过简单的生活。自然之道教会了我们 "天真 "的力量。我们在大自然中感到自在和满足，这要归功于我们在那个环境中表现出来的天真。我们诚实地把我们的精神交给自然环境，让自己沉浸在其中。在其他情况下，当人们处理人际关系或多步骤的工作时，必须用这种 "天真 "方能来驾驭。例如，我们有时要与一个性格凶猛的人沟通，迫于压力，人们往往会伪装或掩饰自己的语言。不幸的是，这样做会导致意想不到的后果。我相信，只要我们更多地表现出我们的 "天真"，沟通就会更加畅通无阻。我们可以更加开放地展示我们的真实意图，在态度上更加尊重和诚实。将这种心态应用于生活中的其他领域，可以简化事情，使复杂的事情变得简单，使焦虑的心态变得平静。

总的来说，将注意力向内聚焦，并体验大自然是两种可以帮助我们简单生活的方法。在这个问题上没有固定的公式，人们根据实际情况进行调整是至关重要的，因为生活可能是压倒性的和快速变化的。然而，只要我们不断思考 "简单生活"这个概念，我们就会有动力朝着这个最终目标行动。在很多时候，旅程本身可以证明与实现目标同样或甚至更有价值。