Working out in my yard is one of my biggest passions. I love doing all parts, from trimming bushes, to design, to just weeding. I just can’t get enough. One of my favorite things to do in the springtime was to go to a nursery and buy something new. It was like a drug and I would keep adding more and more stuff. It was pretty symbolic of my life in my 30s and 40s. I just couldn’t get enough of everything. I was never completely happy with the status quo.

Over the years as everything continued to grow the plants became more and more crowded. My goal was to build a zen like garden but it looked more like a mishmash of shrubbery and trees that had no flow or balance. It was just too much.

Since I never wanted to kill any of my plants I would move them from placed to place trying to come up with a sense of serenity and form. Not surprisingly, it didn’t work. Everything changed however when I began to take things away.

Most people have the same issues especially when they are trying to build their lives into something. That “something” is different for everyone yet the wanting for more and more is a pretty common trait in all of us. Especially from your late 20s through your 40s.

For most of my adult life I would be continually adding more and more things to my personal landscape like I did in my yard. I would say yes to everything. I thought the more activities that I got involved with and the more times I would go out with my friends and other couples the happier I would be. In other words, more was always better. I have written a lot about my 30s and 40s because those tend to be the most tumultuous times in many people’s lives. It certainly was for me. There is an old saying when describing someone like me at that time in my life. “That person can’t see the forest from the trees”. I have always struggled with being happy with the status quo. Luckily as I got older I realized that if I didn’t start “pruning” things out of my life it would end in ruin. I wish I could’ve done all of the personal work myself but honestly my therapist and just getting older helped a lot. It’s still a work in progress.

Ok enough about me and back to my garden. As I began to take things out of my yard and not plant so many flowers and bushes the remaining vegetation had space to breathe. I began to appreciate that if I planted less or removed certain shrubbery the yard began to be a sanctuary of calmness. The simpler the landscaping became the more mature it looked in a beautiful way. The clutter was gone. It was easy to appreciate the space between each tree or shrub. I didn’t have to always be thinking of what to add to make it better. It was just better to let it be. Less was better.

Now the yard just needs small tweaks annually to keep it in tip top shape. The years of big additions are in the past. That’s kind of what happens to most people in their 50s and beyond. It’s a time to enjoy just being in the present.

That inner peace is something that younger people can have in their lives too. They don’’t have to wait. Trust me more and more is not better. Be happy of what you have and take time to enjoy the journey because that is the best part of being alive. Less is Often More!