A life of more with less. A life with more: happiness, fulfillment, and peace. A life with less: sadness, confusion, and stress. What is Minimalism? Minimalism is a lifestyle in which a person acts/lives with more intention. The goal is to live intentionally where the focus is placed on value. A life dedicated to filling it with more value and less stress.
I have decided to choose this lifestyle because I became lost in a black hole where I lived my life to please other people's expectations (My parents, family, friends, etc) and sought validation from others. I didn't value myself. I graduated from college in 3 years, had a good relationship with a great girl, and had what I thought at the time was my "dream job".
However, I never felt more lost/depressed in my life. My health was also demolished to make matters worse. It took some time, but eventually I was able to overcome this struggle. I vowed to live a life that I I would design. To live life on my own terms. If you don't, life & society will design a life for you which you probably won't enjoy.
I discovered Minimalism after watching the Netflix documentary "Minimalism: Less is Now" and also by watching Matt D'Avella's YouTube channel. These are good places to start if you want to learn more about living a Minimalist lifestyle. Like everything, there are extremes. You don't have to follow this lifestyle like a military drill Sargent yelling commands at you. Take what you think will help you and make it personal to realistically fit your lifestyle.
I now don't care what others think about me. I don't allow their opinions to affect me. I value my own opinions/life too much to allow negative events/people to dictate my life. After all, I only have 1 life to live. Why waste it by living it according how others think I should? I'll be damned if I have regrets when I'm sitting on my deathbed.
I now live more intentionally. I don't do anything I'm not willing to do. I don't care if people think "I'm lame", or "weird", or "arrogant". I do things that make me happy and healthy. I do things things without worrying about looking stupid or worrying about failure because I now know that is part of the formula of life and success.
Our job is to first like ourselves, not to get others to like us. If someone has a problem with us, that's their problem not ours. When you are genuine and honest, not everyone is going to like you. Of course, this doesn't mean we need to be assholes. It just means we don't allow assholes to affect us. Be kind to others. People and loved ones matter. Relationships matter. Physical and mental health matters.
Thank you and take care of YOURSELF!