Here is what I know for sure: Minimal makes meaning. I’m also sure that in order to live a life you love you have to actually be aware and conscious of how and why you are living life the way you are. You have to know how you want to feel in your life in order to put in (and take out) what you need to really love living it.
This, sadly, is where I think many of us fall short.
We fall short because we are afraid to ask questions about how we want to feel and how we want to really live. We are afraid to ask that question because if we ask and answer it honestly, we might see that we aren’t really living much at all. And this might lead us to realize that it is time to make some changes. Which just about scares the pants off everyone.
Often those changes come in the form of letting go — of whatever in your life is too much. Too many thoughts, things, people, expectations, comparisons – all vying for a part of you. All needing you to veer away from who you are in order to make them meaningful in some way.
But what if their having meaning means you have less meaning in your own life?
What if all the “stuff” pulls you from living?
It happens to so many people, sometimes without any awareness. And that is where changing and letting go of what is heavy, stressful, unnecessary is imperative. The letting go might be of physical things or mental. The limiting beliefs and comparisons you hang onto are clutter just like the stuffed areas of your home. They confuse and hold you back from clarity. And when you let go you open yourself up to see more clearly what really matters.
Minimalism is all about clarity. Minimal makes meaning. Most think minimalism is about sparsity. But in fact, it is about abundance. It is about the wealth of ideas and ways of being that are afforded you not because you have nothing in your heart, head, or home, but because you have everything. Everything that you need, like, use.
Minimalism is about having enough, not too much. And when you have enough and are deliberate, you are freer to make the best lifestyle choices for your well-being and see more clearly what is meaningful, and necessary.
That is how you build a life you love. And actually live it intentionally.
Having a minimalist mindset shifts you from confusion and chaos to clarity and calm. It means you are no longer consumed with the noise outside that beckons your to buy more just in case. Or who tells you that you must do more to keep up, because you aren’t enough. The minimalist mindset instead focuses on the voice inside. The one that reminds you that things don’t make meaning. Meaning comes from within. From memories and experiences and your own self-worth.
Create your mindset. Ask yourself,
Am I really living?”. What in my life prevents me from doing or thinking or saying what I need in order to be fulfilled, to live with clarity and calm, and meaning?”
Perhaps you will see that it is time to change so you can grow. To think differently about how you want to live, and what you want and need in your life to achieve it.
Maybe you’ll see that minimal makes meaning. That “living” is as simple as keeping things simple. You’ll see that minimal makes meaning because less brings more. And that when you have what you need your desire to be your best swells.
To build your life, really create meaning in it, all you need is a shift in perspective. Focus less on more. And more on less.
Then go out into the world and live your life doing all the things that make you happy and feel fulfilled.
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