Many years ago like many of my colleagues in the corporate world I believed that there was joy in ‘more’, how wrong I was, it did however take me quite a long time to discover that the opposite was indeed true.

In 2009 when to me I seemingly lost everything as I burnt out from my successful senior manager role I felt I had failed and was despondent about what would come next. Life felt empty without the drudge and overwhelm that existed in my over busy life. I had no energy left yet felt that to survive and thrive I needed to find a way back to the life I had left behind.

It took however a move back to my home village in the country and a total re-balance for me to realise that what I had inadvertently been searching for during the twenty-five years I had been away was indeed right here at home.

The joy of more showed itself indeed in the joy of less!

So, in reality what does this mean and how does it show itself.

Well way back when I was living life in the fast lane, I believed joy resided in spending more on items such as clothes, bags, shoes, going to concerts, expensive restaurants, shopping at high end supermarkets etc. I thought attending work events at such places as the Grosvenor in London was on the list to bring joy and tbh it did, but it was short lived and after a short space of time was easily forgotten when the busyness of life took over again.

I thought that climbing the career ladder and becoming a senior manager was joy, again for a short while it did but it wasn’t sustainable. What all these things bought me was, overwhelm, exhaustion, the desire for more, a lack of boundaries and everything that goes with burnout.

The reality of the joy of less shows itself in embracing the now, gratitude for what I have every day, the ability to stop and read a book. I have happily swapped the Grosvenor for the local pub along with its Sunday lunch and my favourite hide out for breakfast is the local Agriculture Livestock Market along with the occasional bingo night they hold there.

I live in trainers; mostly casual clothes and the majority of time use the same handbag day in and day out. I love a walk in the countryside which has replaced the streets of London and I enjoy quality time with family and friends at every opportunity.

There are occasions when I still treat myself to maybe a bottle of designer perfume or lunch at an exclusive restaurant but now, I don’t see them the answer of where to find joy which for me is now found in the small everyday moments shared with those I hold dear.

If you are looking for ‘The Joy of Less’ then may I suggest you look no further that the end of your nose for there it lies in those everyday special moments that so often get overlooked when we are inadvertently searching for more.