'tis a gift to be simple

When Ann Morrow Lindberg wrote Gifts from the Sea, she had gone to Hawaii and found a few weeks of peace among the sand and the sea. I love that book; it spoke to my heart about simplicity, but it was somehow artificial because it was a manufactured peace lasting only for a few weeks. Perhaps she learned principles that could translate into a better lifestyle for her and her family. The kind of simplicity I have come to live in my life is driven by something quite unexpected: anxiety. When I was a boy, I was very active. Driven as I was, sports was a perfect match and I played and played. When I became a school boy anxiety was my friend once again pushing me to study and achieve. As a missionary, anxiety got me through a new language and endless memorizing. When I returned, anxiety got me through a college degree and a rocky relationship with my mother-in-law-to-be. If I worried enough, I could always find a way to make things work out. But at some point, anxiety became a dark friend. Instead of providing the creative energy to work things out it became a whirlpool of distraction, a rat's maze, a box. Of course, those are just ways of describing a state of mind. Because I was in the counseling profession, I learned of medication for depression and anxiety. I tried it at about age 30 and it became a help. Now that I am 53 I have over 20 years experience with this type of medication. All I can say is, medication is necessary for me, just like insulin is essential for the diabetic. One positive that comes from anxiety is you begin to simplify your life. The more you can make it simple the lower the anxiety level. Anxiety becomes a gift. People like me must have a simple life so from time to time I meet up with those who really make me up tight. Not because what they do is wrong; no, it's because they want to do things in a complicated or complex way. Their gift is different from mine. Knowing what He knows about me, God has given me the gift to be simple, and recently, I am becoming more appreciative of those who can take care of the the details, the planning, the administering, and the organizing, so that I can be myself. I don't hate complexity, I just can't do it; but God bless those who can! Every once in a while, a person who is more able to biggy size than I, will ask by opinion about something. I am able to give them a simple solution. Sometimes they will say "I never thought of that." That makes me feel happy to be the person I am. There is a place in the world for simple folk. This weak thing (anxiety) has become a strength. Praise be to the Lord.