Keeping things simple is easier said than done. When I’d come home from a lecture, confused about what happened in there, I’d think I was the problem. Then my brother told me that someone really needs to know what they’re talking about to be able to teach it clearly. Those mostly innocent professors suffered this silent abuse from me thereafter. Everyone needs a defense.
We each often find ourselves listening to the instructions of our own internal dialogue. The familiar sarcasm, “Doctor heal thyself” comes to mind. 
Ideally, you would find outside input whenever you could. Ideally you would gather counsel, and education. Ideally you would not be alone with your thoughts. However, being alone with our thoughts is often the reality of our non-ideal circumstance and deserves respect. How does one give their own selves good counsel?
Keep it simple. Work with your paradigms you know about and try to tease them apart to clarify where your feelings and thoughts are coming from. Am I sleepy? Am I doing something to my body that isn’t healthy? Is someone doing something to me that must stop? Peel away the reasons why these things are happening. Don’t stumble over them at your most basic level. There will be time later. Keep your counsel on basic needs. Simple. The rest comes naturally, of its own invitation – the layers and complications of life.
To be honest, despite the dangers of taking our own counsel, we do. A friend to yourself does this simply, because that is effective. Like any good teacher, we can.
Self Care Tip #14 – Basic counsel is effective counsel. Be a friend to yourself.
Related articles
- Supercharge Your Life Purpose (friendtoyourself.com)
- Virtue 1: Becoming an optimist in thyself. (spiritedhealth.wordpress.com)
In reading this post, I find that the general idea is, certainly, keeping it simple – teasing our paradigms apart to clarify where our feelings and thoughts come from.
I was thinking that some of the themes that might be developed from this post could include how we listen to our own internal dialogue, where we might find outside input, how we can deal with being alone with our own thoughts and how to give ourselves good counsel. In continuing the idea of doing things that are healthy for us, we could expand on the subject of things that we do to our bodies that are NOT healthy and learning how to stop – or, maybe, how to deal with – people who are unhealthy for us.
Keeping it simple ends up with us needing to uncomplicate our lives, needing to learn how to peel back the layers of our lives, and needing to explore our basic needs. Each of these could be expanded upon in further blogs with the hopeful result that others will share what they have done to help themselves to simplify their lives.
thank u so much nance. i luv your breakdown and suggestions. keep ’em coming