Since the day we are born, we are introduced to a world where owning things equals to happiness. Our rooms are filled with all kinds of toys so our parents feel satisfied and we can have as much fun as we want.
This cycle never stops, ones we are bored we want more things. We want a gaming console! Because the toys are no fun anymore. We want more console games as we already finished playing the ones we already have.
At school we get jealous when a kid shows off his cool as looking bike and later we want that to, if not a better one. In high school all the cool kids have the most expensive smart phones, then why do I have to have such a cheap phone? Why do I get my dad’s old laptop when other kids get to buy their own?
This just keeps going on and on. No matter how much you get, you still want to consume more like a Black Hole.
This want is created because of many factors. You want the best because you want to be cool, you want other kids and adults to look at you and be in envy. You think this is how happiness is created because this is how you have grown up.
But what if I said you were wrong? What if I said you never needed any of these things to be happy? What if I said all these mindless wants were created by consumerism and your parents were a prey of it to?
l am sure your parents bought you and themselves all those things because they were shown that those things would make your life better than it is now. Even today you buy things for yourself which you predict will make your life easier and more simple but thats not true. Through consuming you are making yourself work longer for more money, to buy yourself things that you don’t need but want.
Buying does not make life simpler unless its something that you truly need. Buying a SUV may mean it is easier to get around but if you are not going to use it for the purpose it was made, which is heavy-duty work, then why create more pollution when you can just buy a normal car?
here’s a simple exercise for you to do, for two weeks keep an account of all the things you use everyday and then look at the things in your house that you don’t use. Ask yourself, do you really need them? If your not using them then why did you buy them in the first place? If the item is for a one time use then you could always borrow one or get one on loan. You don’t need to buy it because you may have felt secure about it first but now you don’t even care about it (not forgetting all the money that you used up on it).
A good way to make your life simple is to get rid of all the excess stuff by giving it away or selling it. It doesn’t have to be all at once, maybe just one item per day that you don’t need. At the end all that will be left around you will be the things that you really need, this will create a peace of mind, less clutter and you will find that you don’t need to do as much cleaning now as you had to do previously.
But this does not end right there. After you have cleared your life of all that junk that was sitting around, you need to make sure it does not happen again. Every time you are going shopping, ask yourself do I need this? how much will I use it? And is it worth it?
Being a minimalist, one of the things I always say to myself is that no matter how many things I buy, no matter how much money I make or spend, none of it will matter when I die because I won’t be able to take any of it with me.
BECOMING SIMPLE 