This past weekend some friends and I saw one of our favorite restaurants close. It was well loved but it just wasn’t making it. The owners were breaking even and more importantly they weren’t doing what they loved. They loved to cook. They were in a large space with a number of employees and also running the menu at another high end restaurant. They had too much to do and suddenly they became managers. 

So they Quit. 

Despite the murmurs about where we are going to eat breakfast it became clear they made a brave decision. They decided to get rid of the distractions. Cut back. Do less. Worry less. Work Less. Most of us are afraid of less. If we have less we feel inhibited, not free. What we can’t have seems to monopolize our thoughts. But there is another way to look at this. Less means not having to worry about it all. Less means fewer things can go wrong. Less managing. Less busywork. Less employees. Less overhead. Less payroll. 

Less really means freedom. Freedom to do what they’ve wanted to this whole time. More doesn’t mean more creativity or enjoyment. A bigger company, a bigger restaurant, more employees means you will end up in more meetings. Managing larger, more complex projects. The key word here is managing.

I left the weekend feeling inspired by this and I think you’ll understand my point now. So many people sacrifice what they love to have more. To feel secure. To feel busy. But so many of us could stand to just let go of something to really begin to bloom.