Nowadays, materialism, or the desire to live a life full of luxuries, is growing increasingly popular. Whereas the desire to live a simpler life in where we are content with having enough is being neglected. According to what I’ve noticed, some people believe that life is only wonderful and great when they have more than they need. If it is the other way around, you are deemed “poor.”

The art of living simply or minimalistically has become a long-forgotten practice. Evolution happened not just technologically, but also within the brains of humans who like comparing lifestyles and simply want to stay up with the current trends or else the sense of missing out will haunt them.

There’s a quote by Will Smith,

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like”

That is a tough reality, especially in today’s society, where we no longer live our lives for ourselves, but rather in a never-ending cycle of pleasing others. Well, hats off to you if you don’t bother about the rest of the world and live just for yourself. This is due to the fact that, according to CNBC, 40% of millennials overspend or go into debt in order to keep up with their friends.

How absurd can that be? Believe me, there are individuals that spend a lot of money merely to maintain the level of living in their community. If our neighbor gets a Mazda, we should buy a Myvi before the end of the year to keep up with the trend.

Most of the things we have in our homes are superfluous, if you think about it. We utilise things because they exist, not because they were ever essential. How frequently do we buy things merely because we saw them on social media or in someone’s home?

See, life is not about having money and material stuff, but about having eternal pleasure within oneself, which does not come with the presence of money. If you believe that having a lot of money and materialistic stuff would provide you long-term happiness, you are mistaken. However, you might argue that those who have less in their lives are also more likely to be unhappy too.

Do you know why? Because our emotions are now influenced by the things and people around us. We’re becoming slaves to our material items, and we’re forgetting to be grateful for what we have right now.

It is said in the Bhagavad Gita,

“Yadrccha-labha-santusto Dvandvatito Vimatsarah” – Whatever is coming to you, you should have some level of contentment and with contentment comes gratitude.

Imagine you’re riding a bicycle, and you glance to your right and see someone walking, and you turn to your left seeing someone driving a BMW. Some people will feel saddened when they look to the left since they do not possess a BMW. However, other people may be relieved to glance to the right since they now have a bicycle to help them get to their destination quicker.

This is basically our perception. We can either choose to be content and be grateful or feel dissatisfied and dwell on sadness. It is all up to us on which state of mind to choose.

For us to be more content, living minimalistically can be a good option from my point of view. Because it does not only change what we have but also how we feel. Living more with less might be challenging at first, but trust me when you master it, you will reap a slew of emotional and physical perks.

Source: 1, 2