there is a chill in the air tonight, something i missed this summer.  the sky has a greyish-pinkish tint and from where i am sitting i can hear the fast paced movement of traffic.  fall is here.  the trees can feel it and are preparing to stun the town with their beautiful leaves.  the ground is preparing to frost over and the flowers know it's time to rest.  winter is coming, life is slowing down.  

for me, fall is a time to slow my fast moving body and spend some time locked down in my own world.  i like the thought of that because as i get older i realize that while being surrounded by people is wonderful there is something completely and equally as wonderful about being alone.  alone time gives your mind time to breathe and your body time to relax.  this is not a strength of mine.  i am good at being alone, i am not good at making time to be alone.  

i recently taught myself a new trick, waking up very early. it is quiet in the morning.  the sun is still sleeping and the people are too.  early means time in quiet, time doing what i love, alone. starting my days alone has given me time to think about the person i want to become and the things i am dreaming of. when i am dreaming, i am being me.

i hope that this week you can find 20 minutes of quiet, alone time.  use it wisely, it's hard to come by. 

-Cordelia  

Virtue #5

Simplicity is straight-foward, not complex or complicated

It is possible for life to be this way, all you have to do is change your thoughts from thinking that all the things you do, need, and have, are stressful.  Don't think of life as stressful, when you say that you create conflict with in you.  Stress is a negative word.  When you think of life as a learning experience you lessen the negativity.  Simplicity does not remove conflict and problems it just helps us view them differently.  Creating simplicity will help us feel more balanced.  

Simplicity can be seen in our clothes, relationships, work places, and even diets.  The less we require our minds to think complexly about tasks the more simple doing things becomes.  Getting dressed in the morning, stressful, especially when you don't know what to wear.  Creating a more simple wardrobe means less time thinking about what to wear.  Telling your boyfriend you can't make it to dinner because you  once again overloaded your plate, stressful, especially if you do it all the time and he's fed up.  Honest, straight-foward communication means less time preparing a speech on why you are not going to be there.  Telling work you can do something you just can't do that extra thing, stressful especially when you are a people pleaser.  Once again a straight-forward 'no' will mean less time balancing every activity plus extra work.  Eating a meal of completely unhealthy items because you were too busy to remember lunch, stressful, especially when you know spending $10 on food you could make for $5.  Making healthy food the night or weekend  before work and packing it makes for a somewhat more simple afternoon (and guilt free!).  

Simplicity can come in every part of your life if you allow it.  Start noticing the beauty of simple thinking, maybe you will find that you are in a place in your life that is exactly where you are meant to be.  Life has its complications but you have to power to view them differently.  

Try and be simple today.