Giving does bring joy. Giving can also bring some pain. As I’ve been giving some things away, I’ve become aware of emotions that crop up in the process of purging my life of things that are not supporting me. Right now, I’m focused on giving up some material things. You can read about my venture into The Simple Life here and and update here.

Just today, I gave away a few more things. I hadn’t touched these things in ages, little ornamental items hanging around my home, and was fully prepared to give them to someone who would put them to good use. As several friends were leaving my home this afternoon, I asked if any of them wanted these items.

At first, one said no, then another said sure. At that moment, I felt some remorse. I immediately conjured up some potential use for this previously useless object. This particular one was a decorative metal bowl (looked like an ornate pot) with rivets all over it. It was the sort of thing you could use to put umbrellas in, or as a glorified waste bin. In that moment, where I was giving it up, I realized that I could use it to put a large potted plant in it!

I didn’t own a potted plant that size, but it was a possibility. I immediately felt a bit of regret for giving the thing away. It’s a silly example, but something I have experienced several times over the past weeks as I have been simplifying my life. Giving brings joy, but you might have to go through a bit of pain to get there.

Now, sitting here typing this post about 1 hour after giving that metal thingamabob away, I feel absolutely no regret about doing that. I’m glad I did. It’s the same thing I felt giving away all those books, shirts and other items that were crowding space in my head and in my brain.

btw….I am doing a little experiment. As of May 3rd, I haven’t turned on my TV once. I never had cable or even any TV stations before, but I did watch plenty of DVDs and downloaded content on iTunes. My rule is simply not to turn on my TV. I might watch YouTube on my computer or something, but the TV is shut down for the entire month! Feels very refreshing. In fact, I’ve draped a big cloth over it so it is literally out of sight and practically out of mind.

As I wrote in my last post, The Simple Life is going very well. The original enjoyment I got from giving things away to those in need has not drifted away. I still feel the same joy. The momentum is only building.

Let me be clear, this is real joy, not pleasure. There is a difference. Joy is something lasting. It is innate and not based on contrast between you and anyone else, any thing or any situation. That would be pleasure. Joy is happiness and doesn’t cost a darn thing. There is no withdrawal symptoms. It’s the best drug money can’t buy. Anyway….let me get back to the points of this post….

I’ve now gotten rid of 80% of the “loose” things that I am willing to give away. This includes clothes I don’t use, books I don’t read, kitchen stuff I never touch and non-perishable food stuff (unopened) I haven’t looked at in a while. Boxes full of random doo-dads that been dropped off at Goodwill. I’ve got two paper bags full of Tupperware to give to my sister.

For the past month I’ve also not touched my credit card once (I used to have several, canceled them all but one for emergency use). I have a debit card and use that for all my purchases. In fact, since I don’t need to carry around all those cards, I’ve ditched my wallet and started using a very simple money clip.

Life is good.

The act of getting rid of “things” is not the true object of what I am doing. It is all about changing my relationship to things. I appreciate things I get much more. I also am not as attached to them.

This Simple Life mentality has also helped me keep a keen eye out for opportunities to give. I’d rather give things I don’t need directly to someone who would benefit from them. Books that I can give to someone. Clothes that could better serve someone else. It’s about giving not accumulating. Getting rid of things creates space in your life for other great stuff to flow in.

Life is great.

The Simple Life is also not about getting rid of everything to feel significant. It is not about being ultra-contemporary-minimalist just to be unique. It is about redefining what you are about. That is, not identifying your own self-image based on your things.

Once you stop hiding behind all the things you think you need, you are are able to look at yourself with greater objectivity. It’s in this observation that real change can take place.

Life is awesome.

My friend visited from Portland, OR a few weeks and inspired me to take a massive step toward living a much simpler lifestyle. He has spend the past year or so as a “vagabonding,” most recently returning from a 4 month visit to Fiji, where he lived on about $10/day….and felt that he was living a fantastic life. Surfing, eating awesome fresh vegan food, and meeting great people every day.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no intention to retreat from the world or make such a radical shift to my lifestyle, but I have been adopting some of the concepts he has been using to simplify his life over the past few years.

It all started when he walked into my apartment, and threw down a modestly filled backpack on the floor. He strolled about my place and made an observation that I have a lot of “stuff.” That was the first time someone has really said that about me. Most people have the opposite reaction! My apartment is very new, and pretty sparse by most standards.

He then pointed out that his entire worldly possessions fit in the that single bag that was laying on the floor. It made me think about all the things that I had, and whether I really needed all of them. Over the past two weeks, I’ve found an incredible amount of enthusiasm, energy and happiness around the process of getting rid of things I no longer need to have in my possession.

After getting rid of this baggage, I feel an incredible “lightness” and much less encumbered. Just walking into my home feels much better. Things are better organized (since there is less stuff to clutter up) so I can find what I need and not bear the psychological burden of looking at a bunch of stuff sitting around.

So what have I down-sized in the past few weeks? Here’s a run-down:

• My ward-drobe has been cut in half. I have dropped off at least 6 large garbage bags of clothing to Goodwill. This was tough to do, since many of the clothes were in great shape and fit me, but most of it has not been worn in over a year (and probably won’t be worn anytime soon). My closet now has plenty of empty space on the hangar rack, and my shelves have just a few stacks of clothes.

• My library has ben cut in half. I love my books, but I had far too many. My bookshelf was tilting to one side from the weight, and they were stacked in piles on the floor and in laundry baskets next to my bed. Many of the books would never be ready (by me) again. They needed a better home, so I’ve given them away to friends or Goodwill. The books I keep are the ones that really matter a lot to me, or ones that I plan on giving away to friends as gifts over the next year.

• My Visa credit card has been canceled. I already have a Visa Debit Card and have decided to use that for all my “card” purchases. I have an Amex card that I will not use, but keep active in case of emergencies.

• My extra checking/savings accounts have been closed. I consolidated all my finances with a single company that is currently my brokerage firm. They have a checking feature to their brokerage, so I closed my separate checking and savings accounts. This way I only need to go to one account to manage my checking/cash balances.

• My extra brokerage account has been closed. I had an additional brokerage account that I used for Roth IRA and special investment vehicles that I have been using for the past few years. These investments have done well (better than S&P consistently), but were a headache to manage (I’ll go into the details of this in another post….maybe). The funds from this account will be consolidated into my single active brokerage account.

• My XBOX and 30 games that I haven’t played in years have been given to Goodwill.

• A box of triathlon and tri-related gear has been given to a friend who is actually racing….since I am not :)

• A whole bunch (3 large boxes worth) or miscellaneous goos have been given to goodwill.

• Two paper bags worth of non-perishable foods have been given away (non-vegan stuff I won’t eat).

• My iMac now has a new home! I have a MacBook laptop, and decided that I no longer needed two computers at home, so I posted the iMac on Craigs List. 12 hours later, someone stopped by my place and paid cash for it.

So there you have it. Hopefully this post has inspired you to think about where you can down-size. As for me, I am far from done with my own efforts, looking forward to giving away some more clothes, books and some nonsense furniture I have sitting around this week!

The Dalai Lama is visiting Seattle for a few days, as part of the Seeds of Compassion talks. Just now, they closed down several intersections outside my home (a very busy city road) to make way for his motorcade!

I was able to catch a glance of his ochre colored robe as his car sped by.

You can catch the talks on demand at the Seeds of Compassion website.

This morning I had my first official class as a teacher! I had a whopping two students participate, but I had a ton of fun…and am looking forward to growing the class as word spreads (it isn’t easy to get up for a 6:30am class!).

If you live in North Seattle, near Mountlake Terrace, stop by the Rec Center Tues/Thursday mornings (6:30-7:30) for a great hour-of-power yoga class!

Had a good conversation with my management team about our team’s focus and balance of time on things that are important (but not super urgent) vs those things that are important and urgent. Turns out we are spending a lot of time on the later.

The problem with focusing too much time on important and urgent priorities, is that you never really have a chance to think about long-term vision, direction and possibilities. If it is urgent, you’re probably looking for a good-enough answer in a short period of time. It’s hard to make a big breakthrough when you are so hyper-focused in this way.

I’ve made the same mistake in setting priorities in my personal life. Putting things off to free up time for the urgent things. I’ve stopped doing that and have felt a much greater sense of control and achievement. For example, I had to make it to my 5:30pm yoga class today. At 5pm on the nose, after over an hour of discussion, the meeting I was in was running long. Normally, I would just skip the yoga class and stay in the meeting.

Not this time….I just got up and left. The discussion wasn’t super urgent or even important. Yoga wasn’t urgent either, but it was definitely important. My absence was noticed from the meeting, but hey, I if you don’t draw the line somewhere it will draw itself for you!

I start teaching in a few weeks (power yoga, asana practice). Pretty excited about that.

I’m curious. Is anyone who reads this blog into Yoga? Could be an asana practice, or any other form. If you are, leave a comment and let me know what you are into and up to!

The more exposed I get to Tony’s teaching, the more I like it.

I really appreciate the fact that he never stops learning, growing and expanding his perspective. While many of his detractors claim that he too often “changes his tune,” I see this as his greatest strength.

He is not afraid to change his approach as he learns more effective ways doing things. I know 20 years ago, he never would have been into meditation or chanting, but times change….and here he is supporting the release of a new collection of spiritual songs!

When I attended Date With Destiny, we did an incredibly profound guided meditation. This was very different from what most people expected (Tony has been known to stay away from things like meditation in the past, favoring other methods to create lasting change)….but the results were there and that was what mattered.

Below is a little blurb from Tony’s newsletter…I have seen Deva Premal and Miten in concert, and they are truly wonderful singer/songwriters. This will be a great CD.
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Tony’s New CD in Stores March 11

Sacred Blessings, a new collection of spiritual songs personally selected by Tony and Sage Robbins, will be released March 11, it was announced by Kosmic Music. This music, inspired by the great faiths and traditions from around the world, has been chosen to create a sense of peace and harmony within you and around you.

Featuring best-selling mantra singer Deva Premal and well-known songwriters Miten and Craig Pruess, the CD features songs such as “I Love You Lord,” “Devi Prayer,” “So Much Magnificence,” “Gayatri Mantra,” “Moola Mantra” and much more.
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I’m on my way to the Arnold Sports Festival. It’s one of the largest Bodybuilding and Fitness competitions in the world, with a very large health and fitness expo. For four days I’ll be hanging out with thousands of other health and fitness enthusiasts……looking forward to meeting people, getting motivated and learning some new things!

The past week has been a tease, and I am actually starting to believe that the sky is indeed blue and the sun does actually exist! Winter in Seattle can be an ordeal. It feels like you are hunkered down in a bomb shelter. I remember my first winter here7 years ago; we had 70+ consecutive rainy days.

Today was awesome though. Warm (high of 55 or so) and very sunny. I originally had plans to go snowboarding, but given the weather,…opted to hit the driving range instead. A fair trade I think.