While I was doing my usual websurfing in the afternoon, I came across an article about living life simply that really made me stop and wonder, "what is a simple life?"  In today's instant gratification society, it seems that no one stops to turn and look around at what just happened, and think about the past.  We are constantly thinking about what is to come and rarely stopping to reflect on our past experiences.  I have always tried to live a simple life, but yesterday I realized that I don't even know what it means to live a simple life.  Does it to be cheap or not spend that much money and only buy things that you absolutely need?  It could mean that you get rid of any "emotional" baggage you have been carrying around with you, or it could mean escaping from your current lifestyle and trying something new, like living off the land, growing your own food, etc.  I know that there is no one true definition of living a simple life, but I think I have lived a simple life.  I have always bought enough clothes, not too many not too little, waited to buy things until they went on sale, etc.  But despite the fact that I have lived within my means, I feel as though I have not truly lived a simple life.  I am curious in knowing and maybe even finding out what it means to live a simple life and to live deliberately as well, but maybe I will never know.       

To be completely honest, I have always felt older than my age and I have always been interested in things that my peers have not been as interested in.  The way I see it though is that you're only as old as you feel, and not to be too cliche, but age doesn't really matter as long as you're young at heart.  I feel like as you get older you don't have that same curiosity and interest about the world as you do when you're younger.  When I was younger, I loved to learn about the world and other people's customs, religions, etc., and I still am interested in learning more about the world but not in the same way.  I'm not sure that what I am saying makes complete sense, but maybe there is someone like me who tries to live life simply and enjoy like when they were five years old and they didn't have a care or worry about life.  This is not to say that you shouldn't worry about things that are important, but that sometimes we sweat the minor things and forget to just breathe and relax.

It is difficult to let go of the tthings that affect us very deeply on a personal and mental level.  I have found that the best way to let go of something is to forget about, but of course this is easier said than done.  It is best to concentrate on what was learned from that experience, moment, or situation, and use that to move forward and grow as a human being.  We are not perfect creatures and we should not try to achieve perfection, but rather be the best that we can be.  Each mistake that we make should not be a reason to get upset at ourselves because it is an experience that we can and should ultimately learn from and use to reach a higher ground than we started at.