“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction.”

E. F. Schumacker

On Today’s Monday Motivation, Corry discusses SIMPLICITY with featured guest Chris Heuertz.

Watch their conversation on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

Chris Heuertz has spent his life bearing witness to the possibility of hope among a world that has a legitimate reason to question Divine goodness. Originally from Omaha, he attended university in Kentucky before moving to India, where he volunteered alongside Mother Teresa for three years. While in India, he helped launch South Asia’s first pediatric AIDS care home — creating a safe haven for children impacted by the global pandemic. 

In 2012 Chris helped launch Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism. He also published two best-selling and award-winning books: The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth (2017) and The Enneagram of Belonging: A Compassionate Journey of Self-Acceptance (2020). Both books help readers use the Enneagram to move beyond type as a mere caricature and learn how to work with the Enneagram for spiritual growth. 

In addition, Chris hosts the chart-topping podcast Enneagram Mapmakers, where he facilitates candid and vulnerable conversations that chart the unexplored interior landscape of the ego.

Keep life simple. It doesn’t have to be complicated. We make it complicated. Complication makes things hard. Simplicity makes things easy. Keeping it simple is a way of life. Keeping it simple is a mindset we can choose. Don’t buy the lie that you cannot focus. Being distracted and giving over to spontaneity is just a conditioned reflex. If we are able to develop the ability to be distracted, we are able to develop the ability to be focused. Simplicity creates an environment for focus, purpose, and enjoyment.

Feeling overwhelmed disappears instantly in the presence of simplicity. Prioritizing and focusing become easy in simplicity. Simplicity allows options to be seen very clearly.

What would it take for you to create more simplicity in your life? One of the greatest steps towards simplicity is elimination. There are certain things we can simply eliminate to create the space for simplicity. I love the quote below.

“A man must be able to cut a knot, for everything cannot be untied; he must know how to disengage what is essential from the detail in which it is wrapped, for everything cannot be equally considered; in a word, he must be able to simplify his duties, his business and his life,” Henri Frederic Amiel.

After reading that quote, what comes to mind for you? What knots are you willing to cut so that you can be freed up for a life of purpose and enjoyment? Take note, anytime you find yourself overwhelmed, cut away any unnecessary considerations, so that simplicity and freedom can surface. Do it today- find simplicity, and you will find freedom and ease.