The Joy Of Less: 36 Inspiring Confessions From People Who Found Happiness In Simplifying Their Lives
“Our home is a
living space, not a storage space.” – Francine Jay
Happiness
doesn’t come from having more, but rather from being able to appreciate what we
already have. Below are touching confessions from the book “Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Less: 101 Stories about Having More by Simplifying Our Lives” by people who found happiness in simplifying their lives to inspire you:
#1-
“When I added up
the amount of time spent purging the stuff, not to mention the buying, I
realized I had been wasting the most precious gift I had been given… my life.”
#2-
“We’ve learned
the importance of what is referred to as the “one thing in, one thing out”
rule.”
#3-
“I would imagine
the gone, and a sense of freedom and weightlessness would come over me.”
#4-
“I can’t help
but wonder, how many priceless memories never would have been made if we’d kept
our television.”
#5-
“What we have
isn’t as important to us as who we have in our lives.”
#6-
“I learned a
very big lesson. Use it or give it to someone who can.”
#7-
“I began to
realize that I already had my dream home. One that enabled me to have freedom
from loads of debt while still meeting all of my family’s needs. I didn’t need
a certain zip code or amount of square footage to make me happy.”
#8-
“Memories are
not made of things but of relationships. Lives are not connected by objects but
by stories about those things. Appreciating family heirloom can be a wonderful
thing, but allowing possessions to possess us is not.”
#9-
“The reasons
people hold on so tightly to stuff they don’t use it because they think they
might need it someday, or because it reminds them of a person or a time from
their past. Maybe it gives them a sense of security, of safety in a world that
sometimes feels too large, too impersonal, too lonely. Jimmy and I have learned
that most stuff can be easily and cheaply replaced if you need it, and is
quickly forgotten when out of sight. And those forever memories are carried
with us in our hearts, not our attics, and are all we really need. How often do
you actually dig Aunt Helen’s teapot or Grandpa Jack’s old Derby out of the
attic and thing about the departed? More often it’s an old song, the smell of
fresh-dried lavender, the taste of rhubarb pie catching you unaware, that
triggers memories and brings those loved ones back to you for a brief moment.”
#10-
“It occurred to
me that none of us truly owns our possessions. Every item you have must be
cared for, kept clean and, sometimes, insured. Rather than “owning”
possessions, after a time, they “own” us.”
#11-
“When I look
back at all those years, I was paying storage fees, I think about how I could
have used that money to help put some of my grandchildren through college. As I
write this, I wonder what took me so long?”
#12-
“As I emptied
the walls, I was overcome with an unexpected sensation. The rooms suddenly felt
brighter, cleaner, sunnier, larger.”
#13-
“The “one bag
rule” has been so successful that today I refuse to go anywhere with more than
one bag, be it a weeklong trip or a day at the mall. Teaching myself that I
didn’t need as much stuff made me stronger, braver, calmer, more adventurous
and so much happier.”
#14-
“I calculate
that the TV is on in our house for about fifteen hours a day! That’s 105 hours
a week, 450 hours a month, 5400 a year! Gone are the days of reading, sewing,
painting, taking walks, or sitting on the swing in the garden talking to old
friends on the phone. All are put off until the next commercial or the end of
the show.
It’s time to
take my life back. I’m taking the plunge and disconnecting from TV.”
#15-
“Spending less
time in virtual reality strengthened our family bonds. Now we spend more time
updating the status of our relationship with each other than any of our social
media accounts. Who knew unplugging could lead to feeling so plugged in?”
#16-
“We sometimes
count our blessings in things. The truth is one of the greatest blessings we
have is our own ability to look beyond ourselves.”
#17-
“Learning to
live without the items that we thought were essential helped us to realize that
they weren’t essential at all.”
#18-
“It occurred to
me that I had bought so many things that were supposed to make life easier and
better, but they’d done just the opposite.”
#19-
“I never knew we
could be more content with so much less stuff and less space. Our ancestors may
have lived with less stuff and in one-room homes from necessity, but today we
are choosing this life every day because it allows us to focus on each other. Sure,
there are moments where I feel like I might explode from the intensity of sound
and proximity. Yes, there are times I fire up the van and squeal away to a
coffee shop to just hear my own thoughts! Yet, I now feel such depth of joy and
connection in my life.”
#20-
“I realized that
I didn’t need or even care about all the luxuries afforded to me back home. The
size of my house, the labels on my wardrobe, inclusion in a social scene. What
did that really matter? What did that prove about my worth? Absolutely nothing.
And that knowledge was absolutely freeing.”
#21-
“We have
realized how little we really need to be happy. We have learned how the most
important moments in life aren’t when we get new gifts or things, but when we
live happy moments with our family and friends. We know that experiences are
the best treasures.”
#22-
“I kept the
things I most loved and became very creative with how I used them. Several
years later, I still live fairly simply and far more thoughtfully. Do I have a
use for it and a place for it? And do I really love it, or would someone else
love it even more?”
#23-
“You don’t need
entertainment, a fancy cake or even a piñata to make a birthday memorable. You
just need to share it with someone special.”
#24-
“Here’s my
mantra: Release the stuff, unleash the magic.”
#25-
“Here’s what I
learned:
1- Stuff does
not bring happiness.
2- Before I buy
anything, I re-evaluate the cost and need.
3- Nothing will
change until my heart wants it to change.
4- We are all on
this earth to help one another and we all have to do our part.
5- When we pour
out our lives for others, we are the ones who experience the happiness and feel
fulfilled.”
#26-
“From that
moment on, I have asked myself this question: “Can you without this?” If my
answer is yes, or if I have to think about it for a moment, I don’t buy it. My
closet today is one-tenth the size it used to be and nowhere near filled. It
brings me tremendous joy when I see how simple life can be just by looking in
my closet. I love my clothes and I wear each and every piece. No longer do I
look around at my life and think, “What a waste.” Rather, I think, “What a
blessing to be so free from the chains of STUFF.””
#27-
“As I reduced my
possessions, giving them away to the people who really needed them, the amount
of pleasure I got from life increased. I no longer took hours to get ready,
hunting for missing items or trying to salvage an ill-matched outfit. The
constant hum of anxiety, which I’d dragged around with me since my twenties,
began to abate and in its place, I found freedom.”
#28-
“I spent three
years in Nigeria, teaching underprivileged school children, and in return I
learnt the most valuable lessons of all: possessions will not make you happy
but people might; experiences are worth more than the world’s most amazing
dress; what you lose in clutter, you’ll gain in joy; don’t choose trappings,
choose life.”
#29-
“How do you know
when you have enough? I struggled with that question until I remembered the
quote from John D. Rockefeller. He was once asked, “How much money is enough?”
he answered, “Just a little bit more.” I decided I didn’t want to be someone
who spent her life chasing “just a little bit more.””
#30-
“I’ve learned to
appreciate the worth of all my experiences. I’ve also learned to be content
with what I have. Others may have more, but I have enough… and enough is just
right for me.”
#31-
“During my five
years without credit cards and a limited, irregular cash flow, I developed some
of the traits of people who survived the Great Depression. Forget about
shopping for trendy new outfits. I now wanted to wear my clothes until they
fell apart. Who was treating everyone to dinner now? It certainly wasn’t me. My
gifts became more thoughtful and less expensive. One Christmas I made everyone
brownies and these were received with much more enthusiasm than my usual
store-bought offerings. When I was finally free to resume using credit cards, I
didn’t. For big purchases, I used my debit card and anything under $200 was
strictly cash. If I didn’t have the cash, the purchase could, and did, wait.”
#32-
“When I was
younger, I loved to “try on” new things: new activities, new foods, new people…
to see what suited me. Now that I’m older, I finally know myself. These days
I’m simplifying my life; with fewer hobbies and commitments, I need less stuff.
I can get rid of the dance shoes, athletic gear, and business suits that were
part of my old lifestyle, as well as the home furnishings, beauty products, and
even people in my life who are no longer right for me. And when it comes to
jewelry, I’ve come to realize that I’m not the diamond tennis bracelet type. I had
to lose all those sparkling things to find my own sparkle. As I’m paring down
my lifestyle and possessions, I’m homing in on the essence of me.”
#33-
“We make less
money, live in a much smaller house, and have a lot less stuff, but we are so
much happier. Our lives are not focused on taking care of the house, making
more money and acquiring more stuff, but building lasting relationships and
making more memories. Life is focused now on what we are putting into our
hearts and not what we are putting into our closets.”
#34-
“Two years
later, I feel differently about the fire. Despite the loss of valued mementoes,
the fire did burn away a lot of needless clutter from my home and my life. I
discovered that life is much easier with fewer items and less “stuff” to
clutter the journey. I didn’t replace many of the things that I thought were
necessities before the fire. My newly built home is cleaner and has more open
space, as do I.”
#35-
“We’ve been very
happy in our new home, half the size of our old one. We have half as much stuff
as we did before. We don’t miss it, and we have not lost the happy memories of
our old home. Those came with us, and they were the only things we never had to
box up or unpack.”
#36-
“By taking
control of my closet, life became a little easier. I decided never again to own
more than twenty pairs of shoes. I’ve kept to my rule though there are
occasions when I find myself gazing at a snappy pair of shoes marked down to
nearly nothing. But there’s truth in numbers. My twenty-pair rule shapes the
parameters of my shopping. I can’t add new shoes without subtracting old ones.
This formula helps me think a lot harder before succumbing to temptation and
making a purchase.”
Aim for a life where there is:
Less TV, more
reading
Less junk food,
more real food
Less clutter,
more space
Less consuming,
more creating
Less worrying,
more smiling
Before buying something new, ask yourself:
Will I use it?
Do I want to
store it?
Do I want to
clean or maintain it?
Would I rather
with the money buy something else?
If you enjoyed
this post, please consider sharing it on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest
The Book: Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Less: 101 Stories about Having More by Simplifying Our Lives
0 commentaires