I find it difficult to admit most of my life was wasted chasing the wrong things. Looking back, it has become increasingly clear how I spent the first 33 years of my life chasing temporal, material possessions. I thought my life would improve as I acquired them.
It was supposed to be the “American Dream.” But I was all wrong.
While my household possessions were not extravagant, they accumulated over years—especially as we moved into larger and larger homes. Each move would result in more rooms to furnish and more empty closets and storage areas to keep our stuff. Fashions changed and thus, we bought new clothes. New technology emerged and we purchased new gadgets. Kids entered our family and with them came toys, gifts, hand-me-downs, and purchases “necessary” to raise them correctly.
Eventually, our possessions began subtly to control our lives. We spent countless hours cleaning, sorting, organizing, repairing, replacing, removing, and maintaining our physical possessions—not to mention all the time we spent on the front end earning the money just to make the initial purchase in the first place.
Our pursuit of material possessions was controlling our checkbook, draining our energy, and robbing us of true, lasting joy.
But then, everything changed.
When I was 33 years old, we began giving away all the possessions in our lives that were not absolutely essential to our purpose and goals. Eventually, our family removed over 60% of our earthly possessions. And we couldn’t be happier. We found more time, money, and energy to pursue the things in life most valuable to us: faith, family, and friends. We discovered far greater fulfillment in life pursuing our passions than we had ever discovered pursuing possessions.
And now, my only regret is that we didn’t pursue simple living sooner—that we wasted so much time, so many years, and so many resources. If I could do life over again, I would have embraced a minimalist life earlier: my teens, my twenties, or as a newly-formed family. As a result, from the very beginning, we would have experienced:
- Less debt.
- Less clutter.
- Less financial obligation and debt.
- More savings.
- More intentionality.
- More presence with others in my life.
- Less need to get ahead at others’ expense.
- More passion.
- More contentment.
The life-giving invitation to minimalism holds benefit for every generation. It is never too late to start no matter what stage of life you are introduced to it. But my life would attest to the fact that today is the best day to begin living with less. And the earlier in life, the better.
Linda Sand says
Maybe 33 is a magic age. I seem to remember that being an important year in another life important to you. Maybe it was finally the right time.
Cheryl Magyar says
Living a simple life for the last eight years (and gradually becoming eco-minimalists) has opened our lives to so many opportunities that are found in experiences, not mass produced clothing and household goods. We own few possessions, and are about to own much less with a move across the world, which frees our minds to focus on relationships and our passions in life, we wish the same “letting go” of consumer mentality to everyone.
BrownVagabonder says
I totally agree with this post – I was in my late twenties when I started my minimalism journey and I’m glad I did it when I did. Inspite of the fact that I was living with my parents, and had a tiny room in the house (by modern standards – it was supposed to be the maid’s room apparently), I had still accumulated hundreds of items in my twenty-odd years. When I decided to purge, I literally threw out or donated garbage bags of stuff. I still have a lot even though I have been careful with what I buy and bring into my room. I can’t imagine the time and effort for people who have been accumulating for much longer. The freedom that I have gained so early on in my life through minimalism has been infinite, and priceless.
Shadoe says
A lot of people ask me if it was a hard life being mobile in an RV as a child and changing schools all the time. I tell them it felt very freeing and gave me a fantastic minimalist perspective that most people have to wait until later in life to get. If you learn not to get attached to your stuff, you don’t miss it when it isn’t there. If no one has used an item in the last 6 months, it’s out of here! Everything is fair game: clothes, tools, furniture, toys. It keeps our life current and in the moment.
Kathleen says
May I suggest a new way to look at regrets? They are just mind clutter. I am 61 and have been a minimalist for two years. I feel free and happy. Thanks for your inspiration.
Elizabeth says
I love the idea of looking at regrets as mind clutter. Come to think of it, I have a lot of thoughts that might be considered mind clutter! And I don’t need those thoughts anymore. Time to let them go.
Crazylady says
Such a good idea but easier said than done. Clutter that is not physical has to be the most difficult to deal with. Any thoughts to help us along Joshua?
Jackie says
Yes thanks!
Teresa says
Yesterday I didn’t want to come home because there are stacks of stuff in my home right now. A stack from the latest kids event at church. Suitcases from the weekend half unpacked.
There has got to be a better way. I didn’t live this way before. Overwhelmed by a job that pays good money that I hate and a home I no longer want to come home to. No time to take a step back and enjoy life.
tina says
You sound overwhelmed. We are conditioned to hold onto the well paid jobs we hate cos of the fear of loss. Start by making a list of little jobs you want to accomplish and give yourself only 20 mins each tine to complete. Set your stopwatch on your cell phone & go ! You will get through it job by job. Once that clutter is out you may find you cn reassess your job situation. All the best to you. =)
Freedom | Rethinking the Dream says
I feel the same way. I was 35 when we started a massive decluttering that eventually led us to sell our house and downsize to a smaller apartment. Now we have a lot more time and money to do activities we enjoy.
My hope is that we can pass on some of our new minimalist habits on to our daughter as she grows up.
Thomas says
Very well written! Actually I’m 32 and started early this year to remove the unneccesary things from my life, after a time of asking myself what is wrong and why I didn’t feel happy anymore. You know the phrase: Everything at the proper time. We all find great advice here on your blog. Would you have written it when you started becoming a minimalist earlier? There is no reason for regret. You did it and you lead by example with great enthusiasm. Carry on!
Thomas
Betty says
This might seem like a silly question, but how did you calculate 60%?
Noelle says
Funny, My husband just said a few days ago that he thinks we’ve given away 40% of our belongings, and I asked him how he calculated that! It seems like we’ve cleared counters, closets, garage and shed so much, and we got rid of maybe a little less than half of what we started with.
Christy King says
I was wondering this too. We are also getting rid of tons of stuff, but I couldn’t begin to come up with a particular figure.
Lynn k says
Thanks for the article. Inspiring. I have begun too, although late in life to pare down our possessions. I am tracking what goes out and what comes in, in a diary and photo journal. I have one year until my 60th birthday to complete this task. My partner is nervous, but willing.
Karen @ Journey towards simplicity says
Thanks for yet another great article. I don’t think of the past lifestyle with regret- I see it as having been a class on how material things do not bring fulfillment or “happiness”. Just didn’t know I had signed up for that course way back then – but so grateful I passed it eventually :)
Miss Growing Green says
Agreed! You tried out the material-possession-obsession for a while, and decided it wasn’t for you. If you hadn’t maybe you’d be curious and wondering every time your neighbor acquired some fancy new object. Maybe you never would have taken the full leap to become a true minimalist and would have languished somewhere in between.
Mishal says
I too wish I had found minimalism sooner…but at least I found it! I’m still in the process of removing items, I’ve been in the process for a year; it’s amazing how much of the stuff I thought I needed is really just clutter.
Becky says
I’m in Texas and we are in a reoccurring circle of constant rain, my house is full of stuff that’s going out and I can’t get out to take it all away, it’s making me crazy. There is a path of boxes from one end to the other. I needed a little encouragement this morning, it’s going to get better!
Shelia says
Keep packing! Maybe when the rains subside, the Salvation Army will come and pick it up and donate to those who lost so much in the flood. Then you can feel great about cleaning out and giving!
BTW, I know the rain is very stressful. I’m in Texas also and have an adjuster scheduled to come and look at roof damage today– an immediate reminder of possessions zapping our time!
Kathleen says
C’mon Becky! You can finish it!!!
tina says
Did you manage to clear your boxes? I know hiw that feels. We recently spent an entire day sorting our storeroom clutter. Managed to halve it. Put aside the stuff to go but had to make a couple of trips to actually get it out of our aprtment and delivered to those who needed it. That took a couple of weeks ! It’s frustrating walking past it all the time, noticing it is still in your space. We were going to buy a bigger apartment until I realises we don’t need a bigger space we just need less stuff !!!
Jackie says
Thanks for that viewpoint! Agreed!