A few days ago, as I sat reading a book at local coffee shop, I overheard a single sentence of a conversation that has stuck with me ever since.

Against the far wall of the shop, two young women sat at a table and talked to each other over loud the hustle and bustle of the other customers. As I came to the end of a chapter, I decided to take a short break from my reading. I shifted my attention away from the book, and my senses began to take in the environment around me.

Just then, I heard one of the women say to the other,

“It’s not a matter of being care free, but being careless”.

That sentence struck me as powerful, and I began to really think about the differences between those two terms.

Carefree and Careless.

Sure, the term “carefree” has more positive connotation, while “careless” is almost exclusively negative, but the real differences are revealed when you take a moment to examine what those words mean more literally.

Care-free means free of cares, living life without issues and insecurities. We all wish that we could be free of burdens, but alas, our minds tell us that’s not possible. Life is not perfect, there are always things that just happen. We all believe there will always be problems that must learn to accept, and puzzles to solve.

Someone who is careless however, is someone who chooses to ignore their burdens. When you do something carelessly, that thing still gets done, just not necessarily well. When you solve the problem carelessly, that problem still exists.  You just don’t put much energy into it – because you don’t care about it.

Don’t get me wrong, doing things carelessly can be a terrible idea, and I’m not saying that you should live without some semblance of attention and  responsibility. But there is a lesson to be learned here about how the things in our life impact us.

Things like stress, anger, and grief are a part of life. Being rid of all negative emotion or difficult situations is not something that can be achieved. It is however, possible to change how much we let the conditions around us get to us. By shifting our perspective on who we  are, and where we are going in our lives, we can teach ourselves how to “do” it differently.  It’s important not to carry these burdens – not to be weighed down by them. We all have the ability to live inspirited, and to be the person we intended to be.

Learning to see the world in this way is quite the journey, but it doesn’t have to be taken alone.

We encourage you to join our community of likeminded individuals, all going down a path towards an inspirited life together. When we work as one, we can ensure that our cares never stop us from being free.