It’s liberating to realize how little we need.
While backpacking through Costa Rica, trying to make it as a self published author in Missoula and moving to Estonia for work I had this feeling to an extreme.
No car. A cost of living under $1000 / mo. Moving to a place with just what I could carry.
No stress. No seeds. No stems.
A beautiful feeling.
And one available to all of us. To less of an extreme. On a day-to-day.
In the process of earning a fatter check, I lost a piece of myself:
- 3 gym memberships?
- 4 streaming subscriptions?
- Supplements on supplements on supplements?
- Topping $1k in a month eating out and on “vices”?
That’s the lure of more-more-more for ya.
Spending money and hoping it’ll bring a certain change or satisfaction, but it doesn’t.
It never does.
Instead it distracts, clutters, and leaves us with more of the same.
A hollow feeling and a yearning for a better way.
There is a better way. A simpler way.
Where the people and experiences that bring you energy have the space to wiggle on in.
- Where are your time, energy, and money flowing?
- Does it reflect the person you want to be and the life you want to lead?
To say “No”, we’ve first got to recognize the patterns of what is vs. is not serving us.
Let energy be your guide.
Does this add value to your life?
This thing. This subscription. This commitment. This relationship.
Ask it over-and-over.
Be intentional about time, energy, and money.
Because when we remove the “more”, we create space.
And with space, we can do as we please.
More of what matters. To you.
Voluntary simplicity means going fewer places in one day rather than more, seeing less so I can see more, doing less so I can do more, acquiring less so I can have more.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
When we go fewer places, we have more time for the places we go. We have fewer thoughts of “what’s next?” and fewer transition periods.
When we see less, we can spend more time seeing what’s in front of us. We can get beyond that surface layer, beyond first impressions, and go deeper.
When we have fewer things, we have more time and energy for people and experiences.
And if people and experiences are what life’s all about, there’s no hold up. There’s no need to second-guess.
We can let our lives be a reflection of this timeless, simple, ultra-fulfilling principle.
You’ve got everything you need.
Realizing it is just the start.
