21 Jul Minimalism: Less Is More

I’m a big proponent of a minimalist lifestyle. Not for the sake of being trendy or because a therapist told me it would bring trauma killing balance to my life; but because I’ve lived with much and also lived with nothing. This stark contrast shaped my perspective to have an appreciation in having what I need and forgoing some of my wants. Some would feel this is a limitation, but for me, it provided a freedom that I didn’t know existed.

Laziness Is A Great Motivator

It all started with not feeling like cleaning my room. It felt like I was continuously cleaning things only for it to need to be cleaned again. A realization popped in my head that had my mom shaking her head; if I have less stuff, I have less to clean. So instead of cleaning things repeatedly, I instead began to throw them away. What I was doing was removing things to manage in my life, thus giving me more freedom in other areas.

With this tactic, I only had to remove something from my life once to be free time and energy that could be used on things I cared about more. And the beautiful thing is that is not only applies to the dreadful task of cleaning your room, but also in life, work/business, and relationships. Remove the unnecessary to make room for the valued.

No Longer Tied Down

By living a minimalist lifestyle you are choosing to remove the shackles of constantly wanting more “things” and freeing yourself with the gift of gratitude. Too often I see people caught in an endless world of living for the next thing they can buy or obtain, thinking that next thing will provide the happiness they are looking for. Happiness from external things is fleeting because true happiness comes from within. You first must be happy with who you are before you can be happy long term with other things.

Buddhists believe that suffering comes from desire and attachment to things; I’d have to agree here. Your constant craving and obsession for these things takes over your life to where you are blinded from the blessings that you do have. It becomes a constant drive in search of what you don’t have to fill a void that has nothing to do with material things. It’s an emotional void that you’re trying to fill and your desire for these “things” are the shackles that restrict your freedom to properly fill that void with gratitude.

How Much Is Too Little?

As a standard for myself, I only keep the necessities in my life. This always starts with the basics of survival: safety, shelter/warmth (clothes included), food, and water. Once I have these basic ingredients for survival, only then do I then look at increasing my quality of living (work gear, books for learning, car repairs, and that Hoyt Satori Kuiu Verde recurve bow I’ve been researching late into the night). Even then, each one of these has a particular survival purpose in my life that provides dividends. Work gear provides me with a way to make a living, books give me the knowledge to not kill myself when going on one of my mountain man adventures, truck repairs (self explanatory), and Hoyt Satori recurve bow for hunting and fitness training.

Hopefully you’re starting to see that everything in my life has a purpose, and that is the rule for anything I buy or obtain. It must add value to my life in more ways than just emotional; after all, that is what I have my shows and this blog for. 🙂

I Put That Sh-t On Everything

Taking this approach to the “things” in my life and applying it to everything else was definitely the “Ah Ha!” moment. I applied it to my daily life, my work, people in my life, and even my schedule. By only having things in my life that had a purpose and added positively to my life, it made it much richer in more ways than one.

So now, any possible addition to my life goes through a simple filter. Does this add value to my life? For the things that add value, they stay. For the things that do not, they are passed on or removed. If a person is problematic, they gotta go. If some new item will cost me more time to get it than I’d like to sacrifice, I forgo it. If a particular work meeting could be sent in an email, check your inbox. Before adding to your life, try removing what is unnecessary and then reassess to see whether it is truly needed or not.

There’s A Down Side

The downside to this minimalist approach is that there’s a pain period. As with all addicts addicted to things, you are going to go through a period of withdrawal when you remove them. You’ll possibly be agitated, frustrated, experience anxiety, or have a 2 year old sized melt down at the most inconvenient time. This is all part of the necessary process of transitioning from constantly craving what you want to experiencing gratitude for having only what you need. It’s a bit of growing up with a side of psychological maturity.

My suggestion for how to get through this potential train ride through hell is to start small so you’re not left all shell shocked. Start with some of the things you care least about and remove those first. That will give you the motivation and encouragement to take on some of the more valued items. The last bits may cause a bit of pain, but the after affect of feeling free will be greater as well. (This is a perfect exercise to spot the hidden addictions in your life and codependencies you’ve developed over the years).

Be Grateful, Not Ungrateful

I’m not going to tell you that the minimalist lifestyle is for everyone. But I will be the a-hole that will point out though that ALL of our ancient ancestors lived this way for hundreds of thousands of years, so it’s definitely doable. People often use things as distractions from internal issues and removing these things from your life will shine a blinding light on those issues; so it’s definitely about how well you feel about yourself deep down as well. Freedom is not all about being able to get what you want, sometimes it’s about learning to be grateful for what you have and letting that be the abundance in your life.

The purpose of this GI SAID IT blog is simple, to provide perspective. GI delivers this unique perspective in a style that is unapologetically honest, straight to the point, and at times a bit brutal. GI SAID IT: Brutally honest, no BS. Click for more GI SAID IT shows and articles.