Simplicity: Integrity & Holistic Living

Ecclesiastes 4:6, Galatians 1:10, Psalms 127

You are not divided, you are whole. There is no work/life balance. There is tension and sacrifice. The more we compartmentalize parts of our life the more separated we become, stringing parts of us along we become dislocated, distracted disjointed, displaced, divided, and depressed. Life was not meant to be lived like this, we are whole beings.

When we view life holistically we mend what was torn, and bring unity to what has been divided. We fool ourselves by thinking we can be one person with a different set of responsibilities from 8-5 Monday - Friday and another person the rest of the time. We fool ourselves into thinking we can act and behave this way online and another way in real life.

The easiest way to reverse the anxiety of it all is to limit the options.

Here’s my homework for myself.

1. Write out a list of all your current responsibilities and rank them in order of importance.
2. Limit your time commitments by saying no more often.
3. Care less about what’s not on the list, in order to care more about what is on the list.
4. Lower your expectations for yourself, write out your goal for the week, stay disciplined in the short term.
5. Audit your time and focus most on important but not urgent tasks.
6. Eliminate situations where you feel the urge to act in a manner that is not in line with your values.
7. Be the same person, wherever you are.

For additional study and resources check out:

Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster

Bridgetown’s series on Simplicity

The More of Less by Joshua Becker

Enough by Adam Hamilton

The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker

Soulful Simplicity by Courtney Carver

Please leave a  prayer or voicemail here, you can also email me: zacheway@gmail.com