When I was a child and our family went on a trip, I would invariably pack everything I could think of: enough books to read for a month, enough toys to play with for a year, and enough clothes to go several weeks between washings.  And invariably, I would use a quarter of it and spend the rest of my time lugging around a giant bag full of stuff I wasn’t using.

Fast forward twenty years and a few days ago, I needed to pack a bag to spend the day in a hospital waiting room while my sister had surgery.  Fortunately, simplicity was on my mind and it became my mantra as I was packing.

Simplicity. I won’t need to bring make-up if I take the extra moment to put it on now.

Simplicity. Do not pack up the computer; read a book!

Simplicity. Bring a sweater, but leave the pillow (yes, I was considering bringing a pillow).

Simplicity…simplicity…simplicity.

I needed that word the other day, and that was possibly the first time in my life that I have used everything I packed.  I believe all of us need a mantra at one time or another. When we bring an idea down to its most basic form, we figure out what it is we need in our lives. Some of us may need calm, or beauty; some of us purpose, or happiness.  For me, I need simplicity.  That is my mantra, and that is the word I will keep close with me this year.

What is your mantra?