Christian Living

Enjoy life more with less

by jay supetran
08/27/18
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… life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”  Luke 12:15 (b)

The CNBC article about the lifestyle of former US President Jimmy Carter last August 22 was a breath of fresh air in a world full of corrupt leaders.  He continues to stay in a house he built in 1961, a simple place as shown in the picture. The community is closely-knit and weekends are spent with neighbors. The article gave further details like they were using paper plates and drinking bargain wines. He also buys his clothes at a local store selling not the fancy and branded ones.  Simple living, and despite the age he continue to support his advocacies, foremost of which is the Habitat for Humanity.

One of the finest books I read early this year was Goodbye Things by Fumio Sasaki. The author was once a hoarder who loved to keep things, but felt his life was a mess, worrying on so many things. His struggle to reduce clutter in his room led him to let go of his possessions and just leave the barest minimum. Now he found happiness with fewer things and sharing the lessons he learned about letting go.

When I was young I was also a hoarder and love to gather things and pile it in a small box in our kitchen. One of my aunts visiting our home tried to clean the box, separating those she considered as toys and the rest she threw. I was mad seeing most of my things gone.

My habit of hoarding extended even up to the time I was already working. I keep all the books I read, CDs of music I love and souvenirs from places I visited.  I have one room full of my hoard.   I considered that room my extended brain with all the stored materials I kept. My wife helps me keep these things in order. In 2009, Typhoon Ketsana flooded our home and in a snap, everything was ruined and became worthless.

I was inconsolable for some time, thinking that a part of me was lost. It took me sometime to realize that God takes away things you love so that you can experience Him. And God gave me more than what I thought was lost. 

Nothing in this world is permanent, and keeping things will not make us happy but the opposite, it will make us worry. Rich people worry when their wealth decrease, or when the stock market is bearish, or when the exchange rate is fluctuating. But this is ‘normal.’  We were created not to worry about temporal things like properties and our wealth. We were created to enjoy life.

While working in Nepal, I learned that to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, one has to leave his baggage in the camp. Same with us, if we have too much baggage, it will be hard for us to enjoy life. We can have fewer worries if we depend on God to give us what we need.