Not more and more complex. If complexity keeps ever-increasing, something is amiss.
Most of us start with a straightforward life. Childhood is simple. Not always easy, but simple. You show up to school. You do your homework. And you spend the rest of your time however you like.
Once high school ends, however, or at the latest after college, we’re thrust into the real world, and the complexity-meter skyrockets. How will you pay for rent and food? What’s liability insurance? How do you find a partner?
That initial spike in life getting more complicated as we grow up is almost impossible to avoid, but if you picture complexity as a graph over time, I believe after this adulthood-jolt, it should continuously decline. I’m not sure I’m the best example, but I think many people manage to establish this trend just fine! Sticking with a job, moving in together, getting married — if you think about it, all of these things can and should make your life easier, not harder.
Granted, having kids might come with another complexity-bump, but over time, that, too, can simplify your life. For one, it makes your social circle extremely focused on your immediate family. There are now only two, three, four people in your life who deserve your very best effort in everything, and that’s inherently straightforward. Furthermore, after your birds leave the nest, they will hopefully become a source of fun, pride, inspiration, and, in your later days, maybe even physical and financial support.
If your life keeps getting more and more complicated, perhaps those complications warrant a long, second look more so than your immediate fretting about how to resolve them. Do these complications exist for a reason? Or are they self-inflicted? Perhaps you don’t need umpteen side projects, WhatsApp group chats, and to watch every new TV show right upon release.
Check in with yourself every few months. Let your life get simpler over time.