O.K. You say to yourself (as I continue to tell myself because it is a reoccurring theme in my discernment process) it's time to simplify and what do I really need in my life to be able to listen and be at peace. Columba Stewart OSB has some thoughts that might help in getting on the right track. He has brought forward a very good thought to consider in the quest to simplify ones life. The question to consider is as follows:
"Does 'need' mean bare necessity, or what is needed for me to grow and to flourish?...For us to discern genuine need and avoid misuse of things or of people, we have to learn how to confront our desires, which are many and often quite subtle, and then to surrender those which prevent us from loving God and neighbor. Desire in itself is good: it makes us get up and set about the search for God, fueling the ascetical work of learning how to love. But we have an incredible knack for desiring the wrong things, or getting hung up in little desires while the great ones go unsatisfied. Confronting all of our desires, small and great, sick and healthy, is the only way to know what our needs truly are. Only then can our cravings become the basis of compassion toward ourselves and others."
I try to remember this as I travel on my faith journey. The journey is far easier to travel without alot of excess baggage, mentally, physically and spiritually.
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