“There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” —Nelson Mandela
We own too much stuff. And it is stealing our joy.
Consider how our possessions deplete our most finite and valuable resources:
Money: Everything we buy moves our financial balance closer to zero, sometimes even below. The Average American with credit card debt lives with $15,956 debt spread out over 3.5 credit cards. But it is not only families with debt that struggle. Recent statistics report nearly 8 out of every 10 Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck.
Time: Our possessions rob us of precious minutes every day. They are required to be cleaned, organized, maintained, fixed, recycled, removed, and replaced. And that doesn’t even begin to account for all the time we spent working in the first place just to earn the money to buy the possessions that we take home to be cleaned and organized and maintained and…
Energy: Our excessive possessions demand our attention and mental energy. Clutter in our life contends for our eyes, our attention, and our focus. Our minds are subtly consumed with the pursuit of possessions. And the temptation to compare our possessions with those around us permeates our thoughts more than we’d like to admit.
But there is a far better way to live life. The removal of excessive possessions and the intentional decision to live with less offers countless benefits. In exchange for removing the clutter, we are rewarded with newfound finances, time, energy, freedom, and mental capacity. Our lives are lived with less stress, less anxiety, and less burden.
Life is immediately improved. Our finite resources become more available to us. In short, we are freed to pursue our greatest passions. And for some of us, it’s been a long time since we had access to the necessary finite resources required to chase our heart’s greatest delights—however we decide to define them.
For too long, we’ve bought into the lie that more is better. We’ve bought bigger houses and faster cars and trendier clothes and cooler toys, but we’ve traded far more than time and money to acquire them. We’ve traded the very passions and life we most desperately desire to pursue.
But they can be rediscovered. After all…
- Living with less offers more time to spend on meaningful activities.
- Living with less offers more freedom to travel and move about.
- Living with less offers more clarity in our spiritual pursuits.
- Living with less offers more mental capacity to solve our most heartfelt problems in life.
- Living with less offers more finances to support causes we believe in.
- Living with less even offers far greater flexibility in pursuing the careers we most desire.
Owning fewer possessions provides the perfect roadmap for living the life you’ve always dreamed of living. One that is lived pursuing the greatest passions in your heart. Maybe for the first time. Finally.
Jonathan Look, Jr. says
Seems the more I minimize the happier I am. Higher quality seems to flow from minimalism as well. Thanks for the reminder. Just discovered the blog. I will be back!
Rebecca says
Thank you. My husband has been trying to tell me that he doesn’t need anything since I met him. He owned a bed, sleeping bag, couch, tv, stereo, roller blades, clothes and a car. I thought he was just simply a bachelor who was waiting to be taken care of by a woman. I filled our home with furniture and we had a whole room packed full of stuff we had to shift around when we had guests. Then we had kids and stuff overflowed throughout the house. I felt like I was drowning in clutter. I spent everyday of the last 6 years cleaning and tidying, not enjoying my kids. Your blog has changed my life.I finally “get” my hubby. In 2 days I have removed 600 items from my life. Thank you.
Fiona Cee says
I found it’s mostly women who seriously hoard. I didn’t think I was one of those, but it seems that I may be, on a lesser level than some.
‘Stuff’ I understand. Trash and garbage, human waste and animal hoarding I don’t get. Very sad for those who hoard the latter!
zeghsy says
The perfectionist in me wants it done right away. I can envision what I want my space to look like. Unfortunately, my space is so bad currently that it isn’t something I can do in a day. I must remember to be patient. This helps. Thank you.
t says
Based on one of my rants, my friend Teresa was kind enough to send me the link to your site. I’m glad that she did =)
Terry Hadaway says
When we are overwhelmed with stuff, we compromise our ability to live our whys. We become prisoners of possessions we bought that we couldn’t afford that were intended to impress people we don’t really know. We live in a barter system. In order to have something society says I need, I must trade something of greater value. This is one of the subtle tactics of the Enemy who lulls us into a state of lethargy by keeping us distracted with stuff. We need simple lives. We need to love God and love other people. If we love other things, too, we will never live our whys.
Cory says
Terry… and… “society” does not even exist!..In reality there is no such thing except that we make it so. There are only “individuals” somehow it seems we have (not you and me but the “collective”) chosen to be the slaves of others by this imaginary construct we call “Society”…Those of us here are waking up from the dream (nightmare) of that false concept!
Betsy says
Great article – I have seen houses where there is so much junk and stuff around. I have friends who shop and buy because it is a source of “joy” for them. Really the joy is just fleeting and evaporates quickly. And they do not atke care of the stuff they buy. Less is more.
Cory says
Finding the essential self…..if you only had a Mind, Body and Spirit how well would you take care of what you had?… All things are really nothing… illusions that we think have meaning.
The more you have and do the less in touch you are with your essential self. Without you mind, body and spirit, nothing is of any value. That is what all learning and all possessions were for originally…to support our Mind, Body and Spirits.
Taoists know when you know the essential truth about all things you will know the Way.
Therefore; the only thing that really matters is following the Way for without the Way life is worthless
Betty says
Well said, Cory.
Happy Annie says
I agree 100% and you said it beautifully. :)
Aloysa @ My Broken Coin says
I am fascinated by the idea of living with less. If only I could follow it! It is hard to detach yourself from stuff, especially if you’ve been attached and devoted to it for years. It does not happen in one day. It doesn’t happen in one week or a month. I think it is an on-going process. If there are stages in this process, I am in a mental preparation stage.
Brooke says
I’m fairly new to your blog and it has become a big encouragment to me over the past few months. All that you share is very real and eye-opening!
This post is wonderful! Simple, truthful, and straight to the point! Thank you for your continued encouragment to me, and others, as I strive towards a life of becoming a minimialist.
Deniz says
I agree. The words that resonate with me the most, almost on a daily basis, is Joshua’s story about the day he was cleaning out the garage and the juxtaposition on all his possessions on the driveway and his son playing in the yard made him realise he had to get rid of the excess, fast. I am in the exact same position and so remembering his story gives me a new burst of motivation all the time. Thanks Joshua.
Melissa says
How appropriate……..we just went to clean out our pantry/closet to put in a new (much smaller and more energy efficient) freezer, and through a series of events ended up having to empty the whole closet to make this happen. It was one closet that was formerly a “powder bath”…….and all the stuff covered one whole couch, 2 dining room tables, and my kitchen peninsula. My sister-in-law was amazed….she said “that closet was always so well organized, you could find anything you needed and there was extra shelf space”…and yet it was a MASSIVE amount of stuff! The van to the Goodwill is being loaded as we speak……..