Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: BACK TO BASICS (02/16/17)
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TITLE: The Lifestyle of a Minimalist | Previous Challenge Entry
By Teresa Odden
02/23/17 -
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The a-typical American family owns a large home with thousands of home goods. I read the average American has over 200,000 items in their homes. If I were to add every item, large or small, I can see how this might be the case.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think many would argue that Americans live in excess. I’ve been one of them. A trip to T.J. Maxx was a guarantee I wouldn’t leave empty handed. There’s always a treasure I can’t live without.
Collecting things, as much as memories, have gone hand-in-hand in our home. It’s not because we’re in need, but simply because we can.
It hasn’t always been this way. Our first years of marriage we were the last amongst friends to own a VCR and digital camera. They weren’t necessities for survival. We couldn’t afford them.
We lived paycheck-to-paycheck and we were as happy then as we are today. Over the years, as incomes increased, what use to be a luxury became a necessity.
It took years, but overtime the American dream became our reality. God opened many doors for us to build our second home where we lived and raised our kids for 20 years. Ultimately, we owned two VCR’s. Sadly, we felt we needed one for each television. The need for things only grew.
A few years ago, I started moving in a direction to simply my life and to become a minimalist. I sat back to define what a minimalist lifestyle looks like. For starters, it’s about going back to the basics. Basics, focusing on the essentials for survival.
One way is to remain debt free and save more to do things, not collect things. I want to spend money visiting my children, grandchildren, travel, and enjoy times of fellowship.
I’m trying to purge the majority of what I own, but as I walk through my home it’s a challenge to know what to weed out. It’s easy to toss things I don’t use, and yet, even those items are difficult to part with.
What has been easy to recognize is the majority of purchases are luxuries. Shopping looks different than it has in times past. I don’t want to put something in the cart simply because I can. “Do I need it?” Most often the answer is, “no.”
I’ve found joy walking out of a store empty handed rather than walking away with bags full of items that soon fade. I need water to survive, but I don’t need Evian
Many of us have heard the sad stories of couples who waited their entire lives to take their dream vacation and to suddenly experience the tragedy of one of them passing. What in life could they have foregone to create memories to only regret they didn’t travel sooner?
Purging and stopping the madness of collecting things is freeing in so many ways. We are debt free as we near retirement. We don’t want to retire, look back, and wonder why we spent so much money on things, opposed to enjoying the moment and truly living.
We’ve traveled to over 30 countries and save more so we can travel more. Travel is a priority for us and buying less means we give and save more.
Owning things isn’t bad. If God is first and foremost, He helps us establish the priorities in life. All we’ve had has been the generous gifts from God, but I can’t deny how easy it is to stay on a road of excess when I don’t give much thought to it.
It’s easy to get sucked back into the American way of, “I need it.” I told my kids when they moved out on their own that they would take two things with them; memories and God.
I want to create memories and ensure God not only goes where I go, but people see the joy of living with less. When I focus on what is of eternal value, it’s how God transforms my mind to discern what is good, acceptable, and perfect. Romans 12:2
It’s where my desires for worldly pleasures is reduced. I want to be and remain a minimalist.
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