Embracing the Simple Life

Why do we always feel the need for more?

What is a simple life? Everyone will answer this in their own way, but for me it’s a life free of complications that allows me to enjoy whatever opportunities present themselves. If this conjures up images of minimalist homes, that’s not entirely wrong. But let’s make one thing clear: minimalism comes in many forms, and it doesn’t necessarily involve acres of empty white marble surfaces with a strategically placed cactus.
 
Happiness does not have to include ‘stuff’, I’d even say that stuff often gets in the way of happiness.

Just think how much time you spend managing the stuff you own, tidying up after yourself and family members, dealing with the cost of keeping something in working order, and so much else. And that’s without even considering the amount of time spent doing all those things.
 
Some of us consider that having lots of stuff is part of living a good life, but are those things actually enhancing your life? Or can you identify other reasons why you own them? A lot of the stuff we own is not exactly there because it helps us simplify our lives.
 
Elements of peer pressure are involved in many of our purchases, even though we may not even be aware of it. A car that’s really too big for the family but we were told its safer than a smaller one. That latest iPhone you bought because everyone else has one. Too many toys for the kids because you cannot tell people to stop buying them. As you can see, things come to us for many reasons, e.g.:
 
We perceive items as useful, like those kitchen gadgets that you bought and used half a dozen times before they ended up in the back of the cupboard, a wardrobe that has not been reviewed in a long time, or those random bits of wood you keep for potential future projects. You see what I mean.
 
We want to show off that we are going with the times (iPhone or the latest organiser), or we want to be perceived as affluent enough to feel at ease in our peer groups.
 
Other things just accumulate through no fault of your own. They may have been acquired because they were needed at the time (like a bassinet for the newborn baby, or crutches for the broken leg), or they were gifts that you could not refuse but never felt annoyed enough to get rid of.
 
However, none of those reasons is good enough to keep you from culling your belongings from time to time. Just ask yourself if those items you come across actually make your life easier or if they are just physical and mental dead weight. If your answer turns out to be “dead weight” go ahead and get rid of such items.
 
Hanging on to them will just keep you in this eternal loop of having to manage it, feeling stupid for not dealing with it, asking the same questions over and over again, only to procrastinate another time. Believe me: you’ll be happier with less!