The Simple Sophisticate
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The simple sophisticate is someone who prefers quality over quantity, sensible living over mindless consumption, personal style instead of trendy fashions, has an insatiable curiosity for life's endless questions and a desire to live a truly fulfilling life. Tune in as Shannon Ables shares with listeners tips on how to live a refined life on an everyday income. From achieving your goals,..
The Simple Sophisticate
2w ago
Maintaining our balance whether we are holding a tree pose in yoga or riding a bicycle requires dynamic engagement.
While the tree pose in yoga may look static, nope, it is actually dynamic as various muscles are engaged. Similarly and more visually obvious is riding a bicycle. We must remain in motion, and a motion that is balanced, so again engaging our motions to align with each other if there are multiple, in this case our two legs pedaling, to remain balanced.
Balance in life involves a similar concept. We may not always look physically in motion, so for example, choosing time to just be ..read more
The Simple Sophisticate
1M ago
"We can attain almost anything we want—but not instantly. If we're methodical, if we're persistent, and if we take small, deliberate steps, we can arrive there. The going may be slow at first, but the advantage of those actions, compounded over time, can lead to stunning results." —Doris Clark, author of The Long Game: How to Be A Better Long-Term Thinker in a Short Term World
Five years. Seven years. A decade. Time is on our side so long as we put in the proper foundation to support the progress that will eventually lead to the outcome we intend.
"The whole point of playing the long game is u ..read more
The Simple Sophisticate
1M ago
"Some of [our] beliefs, habits and behaviours are acquired by chance, and some we have designed for ourselves. But the beauty of the human mind is that no matter how these beliefs were shaped, they can be changed." —Nicole Vignola, author of Rewire: Break the Cycle, Alter Your Thoughts and Create Lasting Change
Maybe it is the lack of confidence you have in your potential. Maybe it is the negative thoughts that stream through your mind at 2 am in the morning or in the afternoon when you are exhausted after a full first half of the work day has asked you to be on your game every single minute ..read more
The Simple Sophisticate
1M ago
"Our world is dominated by algorithms — by data collection that steers us toward a limited set of products and designers who have paid for the privilege of coming up first in our search. The result is that our taste has gotten . . . only more homogeneous, more limited." —Rachel Tashjian, style contributor to The Washington Post, in her article Whatever Happened to Having Taste?
The primary reason I wanted to begin with this quote is because the reality is all too real: good taste is often hard to find, and much of it has to do with remaining inside the box. Often this 'box' is the one we see f ..read more
The Simple Sophisticate
2M ago
"In general, people who have more optimistic expectations about the possibility of forming a connection are more likely to overlook superficial differences, and wait to see if they feel the spark of connection. They tend to have more diverse relationships, while those with fixed assumptions tend to have more limited social circles. Our beliefs about social connection can become self-fulfilling prophecies." —David Robson, author of The Laws of Connection: The Scientific Secrets of Building a Strong Social Network
The quality of our social connections determines not only our enjoyment of our eve ..read more
The Simple Sophisticate
2M ago
In many arenas of life we witness what appears to be an immediate change, but upon looking at the road that prompted the change, the steps were gradual, intentional and focused. Over time, repetition and application, the skills coalesced, and much like finishing a house that has been built from the foundation up, it is complete. But it takes time, knowledge and consistent effort to experience the benefits of that warm house to live everyday life away from the elements.
The same thing happens when we choose to understand what true contentment is, and then start learning the skills, applying the ..read more
The Simple Sophisticate
3M ago
"Healthy skin begins the moment you start to take care of yourself." —Anonymous
Healthy, natural, as well as radiant skin is something we can include as one of the most statement-making accessories in our exterior presentation. The questions begin though when we don't know what is worth investing in and how much is too much and just unnecessary.
Alongside the food we eat, the exercise we regularly partake in and the healthy management of stress in our lives, how we care for our skin regarding the products we use and the practices we take regarding protection and hydration can have a powerful e ..read more
The Simple Sophisticate
3M ago
When we make the life changing decision to embrace our true selves, a change that we cannot see at the outset, we open up a world of seemingly magic opportunities, gifts and moments of awe.
Over the years, beginning in 2018 and the post from which the excerpt above came, we've talked about honoring our true selves, what it entails, why it's important and how to stay the course.
The choice to step onto the journey's path of who each of us is must be made consciously, an exercise in self-awareness because we will be pushed and pulled off and over and even emotionally deflated along the way, and ..read more
The Simple Sophisticate
3M ago
Satiation.
To completely satisfy your appetite, whether it be literally, therefore with food and drink or figuratively as we seek to fulfill our needs in all immeasurable areas of life.
To equate contentment with satiation is somewhat accurate except that satiation requires us to engage with something outside of ourselves, to choose well, to know much about what and why we are pursuing it, and thus to know ourselves and physiology well. Granted, the 'knowing ourselves' is a shared cross-over between contentment and satiation if we are to attain either which is why when I began to ponder today ..read more
The Simple Sophisticate
3M ago
The holiday of Christmas is a festive time that arrives a mere one week before the new year begins.
The arrival of Christmas stirs up nostalgia for some, angst for others, seasonal stress for most of us and a stream of quiet hope for perhaps nearly all of us that a Christmas miracle will occur. And regardless of what we imagine it to be as November arrives and we look ahead to the final two months of the year, it is a holiday capable of being exactly as we most wish it to be when we approach it with a conscious and loving heart and mind.
Discovering and then honoring what brings us joy is a s ..read more