Living a Rich Simple Life

When I read from the papers that Nick Vujicic, the missionary who was born without limbs, is coming to Singapore, I was thrilled. I have read his books and was deeply inspired by his extraordinary life and how he had overcome all odds to be what he is today.

But before I could take any action, tickets to his talk had all been snapped up. They aren’t cheap either. Perhaps most people want to meet him out of plain curosity, but I really want to thank him in person for being a strong motivation and inspiration to me through his books and life.

Whenever I meet any injustice or heartache in life, I always bring to mind Vujicic and tell myself, “What can be worse than what this guy had to endure?” I also remind myself that there will always be light at the end of the tunnel; or a rainbow after a heavy thunderstorm, just like how God has blessed Vujicic with a beautiful wife who loves him and an adorable baby son.

Sometimes, we think we need a lot of possessions or to be somebody in order to be happy. But I realised in one of my recent housecleaning that I actually don’t need a lot of things to be happy. I have had to throw out a lot of stuff that I didn’t even know I kept all these years. I have never used or touched them for years and I probably never will. After a little hesitation because of their sentimental value, I decided to throw, sell or give them away to make more space in our small home. And I was surprised that it actually felt good to declutter my life! I didn’t feel less happy or secure because I have less things now. It was a revelation to me that I don’t need to have a lot to be happy.

Never mind I don’t have a maid and have to take care of my child and do house chores myself; and I don’t have Instagram, Twitter or even a smartphone as I only need a simple phone for smses and calls. I also don’t believe in adding hundreds or thousands of ‘friends’, whom I would hardly or never contact, to my Facebook. To me, a few good friends who truly stand by me through thick and thin is good enough. Simplicity sometimes can be bliss.

But living a simple life is not only about keeping our possessions to the basics and throwing away physical junk in our lives. It also means keeping our minds clear from emotional baggages and distancing ourselves from people or things that have a negative effect or influence on our lives. That is perhaps the harder part to do for many of us, but I truly believe we can live a simple yet rich (read: meaningful, purposeful) life if we aspire enough to take action towards it.