Minimalism – Declutter Life and Live With Happiness and Contentment!

You have a pile of clothes but you still cry that you have run short of clothes? Your entire house is loaded with ‘stuff’ and you still want more, you spend more and buy more. The entire house is full of things, so many things that there is so much less space for people to live. So much of clutter – and you want to feel contented? Here lies the problem; we assign meaning to our pieces of stuff: we tend to give so much meaning to our things, our stuff, often ignoring our health, our relationships, our hobbies and passions, our mental and spiritual health, our personal goal and our Life; and the terrible part, we feel these ‘things’ can give us happiness and contentment. Living this way is known as Maximalism which is summarized as more is more; whereas what we should be living is Minimalism which has the motto less is more.

Modernization has made us believe and live in the lie that good and content life is found in hoarding things, in accumulating stuff, in possessing as much as possible. I want this, I want that, however, in reality, those are least that we need. We have come to the belief that happiness and joy can be purchased at the department store. However, that’s not the case. What is actually happening here? We are becoming captives of materialistic things, of stuff. And what is Minimalism? It is the freedom from this slavery. It is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favour of focusing on what’s most important—so as you can find happiness, contentment and freedom. It is about having a clear understanding and knowledge of what you value the most in your life and then intentionally removing anything in your life that isn’t the ones that you value and that what gets in the way of what you value the most. At its core, minimalism is essentially being intentional with the way you live your life. The way wherein you allow only what aligns with your most important values to take up your time, space and energy.

By embracing Minimalism, we seek happiness elsewhere. We learn to value our relationships, our Life and soul care. By owning less stuff, we live a more abundant life. Today, people are chasing more and more after success, fame, razzle-dazzle and all that glamour, whereas minimalism lets us live with smaller and calmer voice. We learn to slow down and look deep inside ourselves, explore and learn about ourselves. What’s more, when after living your entire life with maximalism, you meet someone who is living a simple life but with improved quality and not quantity, and actual content, you recognize that you have been chasing the wrong and fake things all along your life. Minimalism is the journey of intentional self-care to appreciate that we already have, which will bring us contentment. It is finding the right amount of stuff for you. The core is keeping only what adds value to your life and removing the rest. As long as everything in your space is something, you either use often or you extremely love – that is minimalism.

Living a minimalist lifestyle is living with things you really need. It implies removing anything that distracts us from living with intentionality and freedom. We all want to be happy, don’t we? Minimalists, search for happiness and joy not through stuff, but through life itself. Hence, it’s up to us to determine what is necessary for our life? Things or real joy? Minimalism is the intentional prioritizing of the things we value the most and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.

Minimalism is, in fact, something contrary to boring. It takes away mundane activities of least importance that take away our time where we could spend some quality time with our loved ones, and what are our priorities in life. Becoming a minimalist frees us from materialistic bondages to live a bigger life with a passionate purpose to what we really want in our life; not the things, but the happiness and joy.

Minimalism is personal and unique to the person living it according to his likes and priorities. Hence, everyone’s’ way of living the Minimalist lifestyle would be different. And that’s the best part. There is no set of rules that one needs to follow. You can make and live your way of minimalist lifestyle as per your priorities and likes. The most important thing is to recognize what matters to you the most and then removing anything that doesn’t line up with those.

Minimalism isn’t deprivation of the things you love. That is exactly opposite of what minimalism is. Rather, you intentionally choose to live with less; mind you, living with less of what is not your priority in order to have more time, space and energy for what is more important in your life. The core point is to remove the excess so that you can truly value, see and use the things you love. It goes beyond having less solely for the sake of saving money. It is about living with less so that you have time and space for what matter most in life. Minimalists buy lesser stuff but higher quality items. Life as a minimalist is so much easier and has myriad of benefits. The key to minimalism is moderation. People think they can’t buy more or will have to eliminate things. It is about intentionally curating about what you keep and save. Keeping only the supplies and things that are actually useful and that you need, rather than stockpiling supplies and things that you never used and will never use. People at homes keep stocking things in cabinets that are older than generations and hold no use. Whenever asked, they’ll say, Oh, will be of use someday; and that day never arrives. Ever thought of donating those and clearing up space?

Minimalism goes far beyond just things that you own. It can be applied to all areas of your life. It is about figuring out what you want and value the most in your life and removing anything that doesn’t align with it, and; that can be anything apart from just stuff. It can be relationships, places, activities, time, money, so on and so forth. When it comes to relationships, what matters is quality over quantity. It is important to keep your circle small but genuine. Minimalism in this area is so underrated. In fact, it is even more beneficial in this aspect.

Relationships with people who are negative, unsupportive, abusive, jealous, who rob you away of your energy and the ones who simply want to take from you without giving anything in return in your relationship aren’t healthy for any of us in the long run. Such relationships are just a waste of time and run away the very first time when you face rough times in life; they are not the ones who walk a long way with you. Such relationships are toxic; they misuse us, distract us, put us down and prevent us from reaching our potential. They use up our energy that is better directed elsewhere; where relationships or people would reciprocate and would prefer giving rather than keep on asking in the relationship. Any relationship is a two way street not a one way road. If you have people in your life who aren’t supportive or are not of any positive influence in your life, it is in your best interest to either remove them or reduce the time spent with them. It is said that we likely become the average of five closest people around us. It is better to choose wisely.

Come on! We all have those few things that aren’t useful and we don’t need. Start small. Ask yourself – Do I use it? Do I love it? Do I need it? You should let go of the good in order to find and keep the best. As for people, you should surround yourself with individuals who encourage you, inspire you, challenge you, support you and bring you happiness and joy; who make you feel someone.

Whether to become any form of minimalist or not, is entirely up to you, but living by a few of its simple philosophies can do wonders for your finances. By incorporating minimalism into your life, decluttering your space, mind and Life, you'll finally be able to find lasting happiness and contentment.