Become a Minimalist

Minimalism is making a decision to own fewer possessions.  It is intentionally living with only the things you really need.  It is removing the distractions of possessions which allows us to focus on the things that are more important.  

Having more and more won’t solve the problem, and happiness does not lie in possessions, or even relationships: The answer lies within ourselves. If we can’t find peace and happiness there, it’s not going to come from the outside. 

Tenzin Palmo

Basically, being a minimalist means deliberately promoting the things we most value and removing everything that distracts us from it.  It is choosing a life that focuses on purposeful living. As a result, it forces improvements in almost all aspects of our life.  It requires each of us to dig deeper and become more introspective about our values and passions.

Modern culture has taught us the lie that the good life is found in accumulating things. So many people are driven to possess as much as possible. They believe that more is better and have inadvertently subscribed to the idea that happiness can be purchased at a store.

Collect moments, not things. 

Paulo Coelho

But they are wrong. Embracing minimalism brings freedom from the all-consuming passion to possess. It helps us to step off the treadmill of consumerism and dares us to seek happiness elsewhere. It values relationships, experiences, and personal care. It lets us see all that we already have and reminds us to be grateful for it. In doing so, we find a more abundant life.

Our world runs at a feverish pace. We are too hurried, too rushed, and too stressed. We work long, hard hours to pay the bills. We multi-task, work at a feverish pace, and still the “to-do” list is never ending. We remain in constant connection with others through our cell phones, but may of us tend to neglect the person standing right next to us.

Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.

Will Rogers

Becoming a minimalist slows down life and frees us from this modern hysteria to live faster and bigger. It offers freedom to detach. It seeks to keep only the essentials. It aims to remove the frivolous and keep only the significant. During this Covid-19 pandemic, we all have the opportunity to embrace minimalism. Making the decision to focus on the internal as opposed to the external, has been easier to do during this quarantine time.

After the external clutter has been removed, we create the space to address the deepest heart issues that impact our relationships and life.  The goal of becoming a minimalist is to use the external choices you make to affect your internal peace of mind.