2994: Being “Fine” Is Kryptonite to Living a Simple Life by Charlie Brown of Simple and StraightForward

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily, episode 2994 Being Fine Is Kryptonite to Living a Simple Life by Charlie Brown of Simple and Straightforward.substack.com And I'm Justin Malik. Welcome back to Optimal Living Daily where I read to you every day with permission from the authors

[00:00:19] And we're gonna get right to our next post as we optimize your life Being Fine Is Kryptonite to Living a Simple Life by Charlie Brown of Simple and Straightforward.substack.com Making a change when everything has gone to sh-

[00:00:40] is easy. When you hit rock bottom, you feel like you've got nothing to lose, so why not? Not so easy when things are going fine. When someone asks you about your job, your relationship, your living situation, your life, and you say Yeah, it's okay.

[00:00:59] Then when it comes to building a simpler life, you may find it harder than you think. Being Fine Equals Inertia Being Fine is Kryptonite to Living a Simple Life because living simply is an extremely active lifestyle

[00:01:15] There's no room for the inertia that comes with being fine and accepting your lot Living simply means being in a constant state of re-evaluation, of living intentionally And with an enormous dollop of self-awareness

[00:01:30] It's not a lifestyle where fine cuts the mustard because that constant re-evaluation is freaking hard When you're always in a state of meh, I'm okay. I suppose can't complain

[00:01:42] But what's the alternative to have a life full of breaking points where you finally crack enough to make a positive change? That's no use either because that's like being in a constant state of fight or flight Exhausting much

[00:01:55] Well, there is another way and that is to realize that a lot of our acceptance of a meh life Is rooted in the fear of the unknown You might prefer to stick with fine then twist and make a change such as embracing a simpler life

[00:02:12] And find out it wasn't the right move for you For most people Being all right. I suppose is infinitely preferable to fear of the unknown

[00:02:23] Evolution has got a lot to answer for the fact that we're wired to be negative is one thing that can in our modern world Backfire We're wired to believe that change will always be bad

[00:02:37] We catastrophize and whilst that was useful back in the day when making a mistake could mean your demise at the hands of a predator Or you being abandoned by your tribe? It's not so useful now But we still feel this fear

[00:02:52] Downsizing our home or even engaging in a spot of mild decluttering Can send us spiraling What if I hate living smaller? What if I need that thing? I've just thrown out

[00:03:05] For a lot of people it's easier to stay fine instead of risking it for the potential of greatness It doesn't help that this is exactly what society tells us to do We've been taught to think that if life isn't terrible, we shouldn't complain

[00:03:21] We should suck it up and just get on with it We're told to be grateful for what we do have rather than trying to improve what's lacking While I'm all for gratitude all this attitude does in reality

[00:03:34] Is create a breeding ground for people who are too scared to admit that being just fine Kind of sucks And I'm not in the market for a sucky life Neither should you You can't stay fine forever

[00:03:48] I have a friend who has a big house a nice car a wife two kids Barbecues on the weekend and vacations a few times a year They spend a lot of money, but he makes a lot of money. So they're fine

[00:04:03] But he tells me that he would love a simpler life a smaller place a life less focused on stuff and More on family friends and all those intangible parts of life like peace of mind and personal fulfillment

[00:04:19] He's said this to me for as long as I've known him and that's about 10 years The other side of him is the fine side His job hardly fills in with inspiration, but he doesn't hate it He doesn't see his kids as much as he would like

[00:04:34] But they do spend weekends together He's not great, but he's okay The fact of the matter is that even though my friend's life is fine He's not But he's scared to make any changes for fear of rocking the boat

[00:04:49] He constantly pushes back on simple living rhetoric because he would rather stay fine Then take the risk of downsizing or simplifying in order to do something like take a more interesting Less stressful, but lesser paid job. He's the embodiment of that fear

[00:05:08] The problem for my friend is that he finds it harder to stay fine with every year that passes It takes more and more effort to maintain the lifestyle. He's become accustomed to His mortgage has just been renewed

[00:05:23] On a five bedroom McMansion with interest rates as they are that's no small extra chunk of change Ironically by choosing the path of fine He could soon find himself in that situation He was so scared about with too many payments for even his large salary to account for

[00:05:41] As I say living simply is an active lifestyle when you have to bring into being It doesn't happen without some serious legwork. It's the consequence of your positive actions Being fine on the other hand is passive It's accepting what comes your way without question

[00:06:00] Is choosing to follow the path set for you by society, which frankly doesn't have your best interests at heart Eventually being fine can turn into not being fine as my friend is discovering

[00:06:14] For my part, I would choose the active lifestyle over the passive one any day of the week I want to have control over my life my actions my situation Thus choosing to live a simple life one that is largely within my control Is infinitely preferable to being fine

[00:06:34] It's more fun that way anyway. Just ask Superman how much better life is when he stays away from kryptonite You just listen to the post titled Being fine is kryptonite living a simple life by charlie brown of simple and straightforward.substack.com Thank you to charlie Oof complacency

[00:07:00] I know this applies to me personally and I'd be surprised if anyone wasn't familiar with this I think everyone can relate to this on some level. There's that never-ending battle of comfort versus potential

[00:07:15] Because comfort can be great at least it feels like that in the moment, but then there's no growth Growth requires discomfort So then being fine is a trap like charlie said

[00:07:28] I don't think that means we need to be uncomfortable all the time and charlie did address that in this post But it's a good reminder that while fear of the unknown is very real We have to think about what we're missing out on by always seeking comfort instead

[00:07:44] It's almost the positive side of fomo the fear of missing out As they say it's better to do and regret than not at all So hopefully we can remember that and take it to heart

[00:07:56] And with that have a great rest of your weekend if you're listening in real time, of course Hopefully not too comfortable of a weekend. Thank you for being here and I'll catch you tomorrow with another article as usual Where your optimal life awaits