It's not her fault you can't get - Focus on Women Magazine

12 Touchstones toS I M P L I F Y L I F EBy Rick D. Niece, Ph.D.Ido <strong>not</strong> remember exactly when life got complicated. Maybe it was after college and thefirst real job, car payments, marriage, mortgage, and trying to share equal time withparents and in-laws geographically separated. Maybe life’s complexities are the result oftoo much technology, too much information, too much invasiveness, and too little privatetime. I am <strong>not</strong> certain how life got so complicated, but I am able to find solace in the wordsof Eleanor Roosevelt: “A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living.”As a university President, I have clever escape routes that help me fend off life’s complexities.Sometimes, in scarce moments of silent peacefulness, I drift back to bicycle rides alongthe scenic, unnamed county roads that surrounded my small hometown. I daydream myselfto the welcoming downhill slopes, coasting effortlessly while using no hands. The traffic isminimal, the country air maximal, and I float carefree. Renewed like the force of a powernap, I come back to reality revitalized.I have ot<strong>her</strong> equally effective escape routes to retrieve touchstones of sane simplicity inthis world of complexity. They can work for <strong>you</strong> as well.See the world through a child’s eyes. Try1 5to rediscover the initial excitement ofnow routine occurrences. Watch like achild who is experiencing them for the firsttime. Airplane trips, frequent events forme, pass quickly when I relive, through the6eyes of a child, the magic of close-up clouds,streams of miniature vehicles, and housesrowed to<strong>get</strong><strong>her</strong> like children’s blocks.2Find a former teac<strong>her</strong>.7Telephone thatteac<strong>her</strong> and reminisce. I talk to myfifth grade teac<strong>her</strong>, Mrs. Curl, severaltimes a year. I do most of the listening, andthat is good for both of us. I enjoy beingMemorize a poem. When stressed Rickie again.3and unable to fall asleep, repeatYield to the allure of the local, the everyday,the ordinary. Discover what thethe poem like a mantra instead ofcounting sheep. Robert Frost’s “Stoppinglocal has to offer. 8We do <strong>not</strong> have toby Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and A.E.travel distant lands for adventure. Too oftenHousman’s, “When I Was One-And-Twenty”lifetimes are spent trekking through layerswork for me.of complexity in a search for simplicity, aPlay classical music. Listen to more simplicity that is already patiently waiting tothan just the 4well-known masterpieces. be discovered. Pots of gold sit, barely hidden,Include selections <strong>you</strong> are <strong>not</strong> familiarwith. The early works of composers likeat our feet. Don’t make them trip <strong>you</strong>.Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak, Brahms, Tchaikovsky,and Rachmaninoff will delight <strong>you</strong>.Isolate the positive. Separate the positivefrom the swirling frenzy of negativitythat surrounds us. Find the kernelswithin the chaff. Treasure what <strong>you</strong> haveinstead of lamenting for what <strong>you</strong> do <strong>not</strong>. Letjust enough be enough.22 <strong>Focus</strong> on Women MagazineLook back for comfort. T<strong>her</strong>e is muchgratification in remembering what was.Recalling the old can be as fulfilling asexploring the new. The past has its place.Imagine <strong>you</strong>r favorite memory and writeabout it. Read <strong>you</strong>r memory after a badday. Re-read it again after the next badday. Write about a<strong>not</strong><strong>her</strong> treasured memory.Capture more good memories than <strong>you</strong> havebad days.