Simple

I am grateful for the simplicity God has placed in my life. I am thankful whenever I can look in the mirror and say, “Juliet is a simple person.” There are many times now when I can say that.

I am striving to live a life centered on God. I live my life for Him. I am pulling out all the stops to have everything in my life support this God-centered life.

This new, less distracted life has God at the center of my teaching, workouts, books, music, housekeeping, and service work for CoDA and Quaker Meeting. It has God at the center of my walks in the woods, trips to the store, and attendance at Weight Watchers meetings. All God, everywhere, all the time.

Living my life in this simple way, revolving around God, allows me to more easily get rid of the complexities that clutter my life. For example, since I started working my 13^th Principle of Simplicity, I found that I was less likely to overbook my calendar. I stopped saying yes all the time and started saying no. This is great recovery for a complaint codependent. I also began questioning whether I really needed something, instead of just buying it automatically. I chose a simple cell phone instead of an iPhone or Smart Phone. I started throwing more things away instead of saving them on the “What If I Need It” Principle.

As I discussed in “Simplicity” (my added 13^th Principle) earlier in the book, my life here at home is pretty simple technologically — at least by today’s standards. I am happy about that. Juliet is simple in her life at home.

I’m learning to be simple in my speech and communication. I try to let my yes be yes and my no be no without miles of explanation. This fits into the Quaker testimony of simplicity very well, as they believe in simplicity of speech. I practice this in all of my communication, but especially in Quaker Meeting, where I am the most successful at it.

I am also practicing simplicity in my personal life by making the decision to be celibate and devote my life to God. This makes my life less complicated, especially since I am an outer-focused codependent. Let’s get the gorilla out of the room. This act of simplicity has brought more serenity to my life than I ever could express.

Juliet is becoming a simple person. I look ahead to a simple, God-centered life.

I will do this with God’s help. I am grateful for his grace and l0ve.