“Wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now.” —Maya Angelou
Fifteen years ago, my life modified perpetually. The Saturday started off typically: I woke up, drank some coffee, ate some breakfast, and commenced in on the day’s project.
It was the primary morning of an attractive three-day weekend in Vermont and my wife and I had decided to spend the Saturday spring cleansing.
My project was to scrub out the garage. After the cleansing was finished, we’d begin relaxing and having fun with the vacation weekend. But my life was turned upside-down before we’d ever get there.
“Maybe you don’t must own all these things,” was the last statement my old-self remembers hearing.
It was said by my neighbor right after I started complaining to her about how much work it had change into caring for our house—all the things from my garage was piled within the driveway on the time. She had used the word “minimalist” earlier within the conversation. And at that very moment, I discovered minimalism, or it found me.
As a result, my life has been refreshed, rejuvenated, improved. It’s been an incredible journey. And over the past several years, due to minimalism, my life has modified in ways I never dreamt possible.
Consider these 4 statements minimalism has made possible in my life and the enjoyment present in each of them:
1. I wish I owned less stuff.
Since that weekend, we have now been on a journey of minimizing possessions from our home and life.
We immediately went to work removing all the things we now not used or loved. At the top of the method, we took a breath. But soon, we began noticing more things across the house we could live without and started removing them as well. Even after one other clean-sweep through all the house, we still owned greater than we would have liked. We removed some more, bought a smaller house a couple of years later, and continued the cycle.
Of course, none of this happens in a vacuum: holidays and birthdays come and go, moments of consumer-relapse occur, recent hobbies emerge, kids become old, tastes change.
Even as someone attempting to live a minimalist life, things still begin to gather around me. As a result, after I go searching my house today, I still wish I owned less stuff. And that’s something I never would have said years ago!
2. I don’t mind earning less money than I could.
Somewhere along this journey of intentionally living with fewer possessions, a vital realization occurred in my mind: Living with less means I can joyfully earn less if the suitable opportunity presents itself.
The measure of success in my life isn’t any longer tied to my house, my automobile, or my paycheck. I now measure success in other ways: integrity, character, family, friendship, joy, love, peace (simply to name a couple of).
Because of that change in perspective, when a recent profession opportunity presented itself years later that offered so lots of the things I most value in life, I accepted—despite less pay. Even today, there are numerous things I could possibly be doing to make more cash, but I don’t mind earning less. We own enough and there are more fulfilling pursuits than attempting to get extra money.
3. I’d like to inform you my story.
I like my newfound life. I even have more time, more energy, more mental-capacity, and extra money to pursue what’s most vital to me. Owning less means less burden, less anxiety, and fewer stress each and each day.
Because of the various advantages, I like sharing my story with others. I like seeing the belief in another person’s eyes that possessions should not the reply to our heart’s best pursuits. And I like inspiring others to come back join a movement of men and ladies everywhere in the world who’ve decided to intentionally live with fewer possessions.
I enjoy sharing my story since it stands as a transparent invitation to seek out something higher and think about the potential for our lives greater than physical possessions.
4. I do know, deep down, you ought to own fewer possessions too.
None of us really consider it. No one really believes that possessions equal joy. It’s just that we’ve been told so again and again and from so many angles that we could be happier accumulating more, we have now began to consider the lie greater than we realize. Our lives begin to align with that pursuit.
We start to purchase greater houses, nicer cars, newer technology, trendier clothing, and more toys for ourselves and our family. As a result, our possessions begin to burden us greater than we recognize. They now not serve us—as a substitute, we serve them.
But in our deepest heart, we all know our possessions should not adding value to our lives. Even worse, we are able to probably recognize how they’re subtracting from it. I do know, deep-down, you ought to own fewer possessions. I do know because I’ve been there. And why else would the message of this text resonate so deeply inside you?
