Finding Meaning in Simplicity

“Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is oftentimes the right thing.” — Oscar Wilde


I am quite sure that at this point in our lives we have had our own share of complicated experiences we tend to either dwell at or look back at, result of which is a life lived with so many questions beginning with “Why?” — but let us reverse it and instead ask ourselves “Why not?”. Life is never experienced in full unless you get over fear and be braveless to go ahead and pursue whatever it is that keeps you stuck in the moment.


Simplicity is oftentimes the end-product of a decision we have been postponing for quite some time. It is a means to an end — where the end is a simpler understanding or a simpler way to share or a simpler way to just DO and be YOU.


At the end of it all, and as a result of the many trials I have personally experienced, I have learned that simplicity wins in the long run. Simple is more lasting than complexity — it survives despite of all the obstacles you seem to face, the secret of finding it is just in realizing that it is there for you to take. It is in the magic of simplicity do we find the most extraordinary occurrences we can ever have.

Oftentimes I have encountered questions on how one can be happy. I have asked that query before, but a Higher Power has ways in making the realizations that there are three simple things we basically need to live life the way it should be — Something to do, Someone to love and Something to hope for — in whatever form they may come into your life.


I will never forget the following lines I encountered in one of the books I have read, author of which is Unknown, but whoever he or she may be, bless you for striking in us the value of being contented with the now, doing our best in the now because tomorrow may never be a guarantee…

“First I was dying to finish high school and start college.
And then I was dying to finish college and start working.
And then I was dying to marry and have children.
And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough for school so I could return to work.
And then I was dying to retire.
And now, I am dying… and suddenly I realize I forgot to live.”


Well said and an excellent gist on how we constantly look for meaning in our lives, whereas, the meaning of which is living it in simplicity.


I shall make this blog entry of mine short and simple. I end quoting John Gardner —


Meaning is not something you stumble across, like an answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of the affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that unique pattern that will be your LIFE. Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you. If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account.


Do not make the process harder than it is… Go and pursue your personal meaning, enjoy the simple, the natural and the plain. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work.