We’ve never met. But I’m going to make an assumption:
Your greatest dream in life is not to own a house full of stuff you don’t use.
Nobody, sitting across the table from you drinking a cup of coffee, would ever say that their greatest goal in life is to own a house full of boxes crammed into closets and cabinets.
We all dream bigger dreams for our lives than material possessions.
When we dig deep into our heart and soul, we want to live a life that mattered.
We speak of family, faith, relationships, or making a difference in the world. These are the motivations that inspire us.
But somewhere along the way, the world hijacks our passions and directs it toward things that don’t matter.
We slowly and subtly begin to waste the one life we’ve been given. We spend our money on things we don’t need. We spend our time cleaning and organizing things we don’t use. And we direct our focus on acquiring more and more of the “latest and greatest.”
Marketers and advertisers promise their newest trinket will lead to a better life. But for the most part, we regret the purchase in the long run. The things we buy may provide a short hit of happiness, but that happiness fades quickly.
It’s not long until we look around our homes filled to the brim with unused possessions, or open the next credit card statement, and regret the purchases that we made.
But rather than breaking free, we too often repeat the cycle, only adding to the clutter in our home.
It is time to break free.
It is time to return to the bigger dreams for your life.
It is time to stop wasting your life pursuing and accumulating material possessions. You were designed for greater pursuits.
It is time to become more intentional with the items you allow into your home and life.
It is time to take back control.
It is time to remember that your biggest dream does not include a house full of stuff.
But how?
1. We get clear on what we want to accomplish and who we want to become.
Find time alone, away from the noise of this world and make a list of the three most important things you want to accomplish with your life. For me, my list consists of growing in faith, excelling in my relationships, and making a difference in the world.
Your list will look different. But I can virtually guarantee, “owning a house full of stuff I don’t use” won’t be on that list.
Write your list. And get clear on the plan you wish to design for your life.
2 Remind yourself that you have a choice in how you live.
Nobody can take away your right to make decisions for yourself. You can give it away or you can forget that you have agency, but you always have a choice. That may not mean you get to control every aspect, but you can still decide what pursuits are going to be important to you.
You have control and you have a choice. You don’t have to live exactly the same as everyone around you. You can choose to live for those pursuits that mean the most to you.
3. We remove distractions.
Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it. It forces us to get clear on our priorities and then reorient our life around those pursuits.
Minimalism can be applied in countless ways: possessions, commitments, habits, relationships, even the work that we do. Removing the distractions may not be easy in a world that constantly clamors and screams for our attention and resources, but it is required to live an intentional life focused on the things that matter.
You can do it.
Mark Twain once said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” I like to add a third, “The day you remove everything that distracts you from that purpose.”
Your greatest dream in life is not to own a house full of stuff. Live for something greater.
I have a home office that was given the nickname “the abyss.” It became the catch-all room of the house for years! Last summer 30 tomato boxes of outdated work items were thrown away! What a relief! I still have a lot of decluttering to do, but I’ll never have to deal with those 30 boxes ever again! :)
I decided a couple of weeks ago to remove all people, possessions and other things from my life that keep me from doing what God created me for. All this excess is a Blessing He entrusted me with to hold for whom He intended it to belong to because we had the funds (which He provided and temporary storage for) until the right time for me keep only what I need (and the things we really do love) so that His Blessings can go where He intended them to. When material Blessings are shared His intention for these items are shared also “that Father knew they would need it and it would be provided, we were just holding it for them until they were ready”. It has helped me end relationships with people that distract and cause drama, unsubscribe from everything from emails to social media groups and is still helping me to decide whether or not something was His Will for us to keep or for someone else to have. God was always with me when I was homeless as well as every other day of my life. God was with my husband when he was serving in Iraq and every other day of his life. If we are in need He will provide for us as well as the unwavering feeling that is what He is doing through us now.
Hope this is helpful for someone else because it really has been a life changer for me making my purging less stressful.
That would be sad if someone’s biggest dreams involved having more stuff. Yet I guess we all know people like that, and they aren’t very happy people. Most people know this intellectually, yet they still pursue happiness through materialism because they lack purpose. Good stuff.
So sounds like my son in law. He’s constantly ordering things, and their home is more a storehouse. I should add he has a spinal cord injury from one of his deployments, but is able to walk with assistance, but doesn’t feel he’s got much. When we moved them from a small apartment to a handicapped home, it took two large uhaul trucks and several trips with pickups and cars. Hates it when we gather up the boxes and packaging to recycle “I might need those” . Our daughter keeps purging her things but won’t let us try to convince him to part with things never used.
As usual, you cannot go wrong with your advice. My wife and I have become ruthless when it comes to donating or selling things that we don’t need. The more we can declutter our house, the more it feels like I can truly breathe. Now, we just need to work on decluttering our minds :)
The title of this article caught my eye. As a Certified Professional Organizer I’m always advocating, the less we have the less we have to organize. Thanks for your insight and encouragement.
Wow! Yes. This article directly addresses The Ultimate Why . . . of living, of living in a minimalistic space, and of purpose and focus. It is indeed time for me to break free and to take back control. I am so ready. I have been decluttering and repurposing and rehoming my belongings for the last two years. That sounds like an enormous amount of time (!) but I have to remind myself that this is a journey. It took me many years to accumulate it so it makes sense that it will take time to divest myself of it. I especially like your message of rehoming and decluttering over “organizing” it all back into boxes and plastic tubs. It is time to simply let it all go.
We all want to live with purpose. Removing the burdensome distractions is a great way to start. Excellent article. Thanks for posting.
A triple AMEN for this post, Joshua.
My husband and I are financially stable so have been giving more to charity and also to people we know personally, in need.
As to decluttering, I have given gifts/mementos to family members from my late parents and for example, a friends’ family member suffered a devastating fire, so am giving them some household items which will help them set up their home when it is renovated.
There are so many ways to acknowledge and assist people so that they know they are cared for.
Flawless text, liked the introduction approach too (as talking to a good friend). When more people will experience the great feeling of pleasantness by just simplifying their daily life, there will be more smiles and less clutter.
Today’s reflection reinforces a question that the cosmos has lately benn placing in my path, that question being, WHY? Why do I have what I have? Why did I respond to someone in a particular way? Why did I say, yes or no, to a commitment? Why do I have 4 dogs? Fortunately, the answers make me smile because I can rid myself of possessions and ideas that obstruct my goals. I find my energy level and life satisfaction gaining in strenth to pursue that which truly matters. Thank you again for your insight.