How Does Letting Go of What is Not Necessary Help You to Do What is Necessary?
I've moved houses dozens of times over the past three years, and I'm no different from most people in terms of considering relocating to be a stressful event, but I've learned to love it for one thing which is that it made me rethink what my possessions mean to me.
Note: This article is taken from the writer Darius Foroux, in which he talks about the importance of learning the art of letting go in order to live a happier life.
Two reasons to get rid of unnecessary things
Having many things in the house makes relocating difficult, and I would like it to be easy. When I moved from the Netherlands to London in 2014, it was the first time that I took the time to get rid of almost everything I owned, and I got rid of these things for practical reasons only, and in particular for two reasons:
- I can't take everything I own with me to my new place of residence.
- I have a lot of things that I don't use.
So it's clear, it's not about your need for things, no one needs 10 pairs of shoes, or coffee, and sometimes we don't even need some of our electronic devices.
If you want a little, you will have a little
Regarding this issue, I am not perfect, a while ago I bought Jordan 11 Space Jam sneakers, and it was the 20th anniversary edition of the production of this shoe, which was first produced in 1996, and I wanted this shoe very much, In fact, everyone on my basketball team raved about these shoes; But because of the lack of money, I couldn't buy it, but when Nike decided to re-release the shoe in 2016, I said to myself it was time to buy it.
It's just emotional, I could have convinced myself that I didn't need these shoes, that they were too expensive, and I probably would never wear them.
All of the above are true, and I have only worn these shoes on three occasions. The fact is that I spent more time looking at them than using them. I even put their box in my office. Does that make me a reckless consumer? Of course, but it's more than that, these shoes tell a story.
The story revolves around a young boy who wanted something; but he could not get it; Because he did not have money, and when he became an adult and started making money himself, he decided that he would buy this thing because he became able to do so, and sometimes there is no other reason for that; But I do not have so many desires as I do to buy these shoes; It is not about what you own; Rather what you want.
If you want a little, you will have a little, and this is what the Stoic philosopher Epictetus expressed when he said: "Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."
Let go of things
With time passing, I became more accustomed than before to letting go of things, memories, dreams, goals, and people as well. I believe that letting go of things is a natural part of life because nothing lasts forever.
You must get used to it. When my grandmother passed away two years ago, I was surprised by my grandfather's calm reaction, and asked him: "Aren't you upset?" He replied that he was sad; But, he added that as you get older, you have to say goodbye to people you've always loved.
This is not to everyone's liking; But it is life, and despite its strangeness, you get used to it; Life goes on, and this is reality; But we do not accept this reality easily. Most of us gradually learn that no matter what happens you have to keep moving forward, but you can train yourself to let go of things.
The easiest way to do this is by getting rid of your material possessions, especially if we know that people hold on to possessions as much as they do other people.
But in life we do not have possessions. I read some time ago on Goodreads a quote by Deborah Ellis, a writer specializing in children's stories in developing countries, in which she says: "None of us owns anything." In fact, even our bodies return to the dust when we die, but we have our thoughts, and everything else is a temporary gift that we use for a while and then give it back.”
This does not mean that we should not acquire things; This is an unrealistic and tedious demand, and no one said you should have no more than a pair of shoes; Most of my friends have children, and one of them wrote this phrase after reading a bit about the concept of rationing:
"The idea of having so many things sounds nice, but it's not so useful when you're married with two kids."
But some of them are busy thinking about their possessions all day long, and I think that thinking about what we have is a waste of time, and most of us are obsessed with whether they should buy this or that, and whether they need this or that.
This takes a lot of mental energy, instead I would rather do my job, spend time with my friends and family, or exercise, I don't want to get addicted to thinking about my possessions, and when I see something I really like, I buy it, but this only happens Rarely, and this strategy works very well, but the cool thing is that I don't have to overthink anything.
Three tips to get rid of the things you don't need in life
- Avoid borrowing to buy anything.
- Live below your financial ability.
- Get rid of things when they take up space you need.
Last week I donated a box of clothes and shoes to charity, also gave a bunch of electronics to a factory that recycles these materials, and threw most of the useless stuff I don't use into the trash.
It actually feels good. If I haven't used something in a long time, I simply throw it away. But cleaning up your life is about more than just getting rid of things you don't need. It's about freeing up more space in your mind. valuable space that you can use to accomplish meaningful things; Things you keep putting off doing.
In conclusion
Letting go is a practice in dealing with loss more effectively; by reminding ourselves that everything we have is a gift and not truly ours. So, get rid of everything you don't need in your home and in your life, and remember that you haven't lost anything, because you didn't own it in the first place.