Minimalist thoughts

Greetings to all friends of this community, I am very happy to write again here. This time I want to talk about something that has helped me a lot since I started to put it into practice.

We all know that the minimalist lifestyle is one of the best options we can have, it is very enriching not to depend on material things, not to live to get things and get into debt, but to concentrate more on enjoying the wonderful things that life has. This has certainly given more meaning to my life. However, I felt that something was missing, because even though my life was simplified, there was something that did not let me find the peace I needed so much.

At night, it was hard for me to fall asleep, I had thousands of thoughts running through my head, I tried to solve in my mind problems that included me or my family, but not only that but the problems that I found out from others, friends and acquaintances. It is no secret to anyone that problems are there on a daily basis without the need to look very hard for them, but there came a time when I stopped to think, I decided that they were not going to steal the joy from my days.

I talked to my wife and told her what was happening to me and I told her that I needed to make a change, just as our life and our environment is simple, in the same way I had to make my mind and my thoughts simple as well. She told me that in her case it was difficult because she suffered from anxiety and it was almost impossible for her to leave her problems aside. In spite of that we had to try, so I started, the first thing I did was to convince my mind to put aside those problems that I could not solve because they were simply out of my hands, such as a chronic illness of my parents, the loss of my hair that every time is more or the fear that something could happen to my son, especially for so many news that we have seen in our country lately. They seem harmless thoughts but they are not, they become a burden that pass from one side to the other in your head.

Every time a thought came to my mind I took it upon myself to evaluate if I should really give it my attention or it would become a burden. By this I don't mean that I don't care about anything anymore, it's just that I decided to give my attention to things that I really have to handle and can handle. By doing that I avoided feeling mentally exhausted due to so many unresolved problems. The hard part for me was when it was time to go to sleep, even my mind wanted to keep working and reminding me of everything I still had to solve. I took the advice of some good friends who recommended me to read a little before going to sleep and then meditate on what I read. I chose a good book that from beginning to end fills me with peace and calm, when I started to meditate on what I had just read I fell deeply asleep and my mind did not have time to remind me of all the unresolved problems.

Since it was giving me such good results I suggested to my wife to do the same, since I know that she thinks a lot and is burdened not only with her problems but also with mine and she spends her time just thinking. She took my suggestion but did not get as good results as I did, her thoughts would not quiet down with reading and meditation, but she found that some beautiful melodies gave her the peace she needed to be able to rest at night without thinking about problems.

Each person must find a way to discard the problems that are an emotional burden, that will make our lifestyle as we wish it to be because sometimes it is not enough to simplify our life, we must simplify our thoughts. Now I can say that I know how to manage my problems in the best way, they do not manage my life or my mind, I decide what I allow to stay in my mind or what I discard. After so much searching for a word to describe what I have become, I can say that I am now an emotional minimalist. Thank you for reading me.