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[anotherpersbective]

A LESSNESS LIFE .

I know from the moment you read the heading of this article, you thought that its interesting but never came across your mind that is going to be about minimalism. In this upcoming words I am going to express my thoughts on such a subject and the reasons behind adopting it, and this is going to be in answering questions method.

WHAT ACTUALLY IS MINIMALISM?

Let us imagine the following situation, a person comes to me and asked me to describe minimalism in one word? The answer is going to be FREEDOM. However, if he asked me to define it, my answer would be I can't do such a thing. There is no united definition of minimalism that everybody would agree on because we are different and everyone understands it in various descriptions.

No one will tell you that if you own more than 50 items, for example, you can't be a minimalist. And he will be absolutely wrong.

My definition of minimalism is all about the intentional use of things and stuff. It's all about doing more with less, achieving more with less, and living happier with less. Until eventually, LESS can show you the FREEDOM.

IT'S ABOUT HAVING, BUT CHOOSING NOT TO OWN.

HOW DID I GET THERE?

I was born in a society that is all about showing off what you have, and what you have accomplished. I used to be that person who wants to achieve finical freedom and I still won't, but the method differentiates from that time. So, I watched those who own more all the time whether it was cars, homes, or boats. As a result, I told myself that this is the answer to the problem which I do not even know what it is? However, year after year the principal starts failing down by seeing those who have more hurting themselves, being hit by the depression, and attempting suicide. DON'T GET ME WRONG, I DON'T MEAN THAT THOSE WHO OWN LESS DO NOT COMMIT SUICIDE TOO. But, this showed me a hole in the equation and another element that can explain this phenomenon shall be found.

BACKGROUND:

I used to be that person who loved accumulating stuff, things, and materialistic goods. I tended to tell my self " If I get this thing, I will be fulfilled and satisfied. However, this leads to own another thing, another good. Moving forward, you will end up finding yourself in a vicious cycle of wanting more all the time without realizing that you have already got the very first thing that was supposed to fulfill you as a human being, but it didn't. And now you are pursuing another one.

Over time, due to personal circumstances, I, finally, realized the cycle, so I decided to hold on and slow down a little. Then, it bound on me, I should take a step back and look at the bigger picture. In the end, because of such a step, I was able to adopt minimalism as a way of life with another step; however, this step was ahead.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WANT AND NEED?

I see people most of the time get confused between these two words ( want & need) without even knowing. people have already mixed them on everyday usage, they treat them as being synonymous to each other; conversely, they aren't.

Looking at the definition of WANT, it's going to behave a desire to possess or do (something); wish for. This means that want is used to express our desires which are not a necessity and we can live without. Adding up, our desires can manipulate us to convince ourselves that that thing which should be a want has already become a need. However, when it comes to the definition of NEED, it's all about required (something) because it is essential or very important rather than just desirable. So, when using the word (need), we should keep in mind that we are talking about a crucial thing to continue living and keep our body running appropriately.

Humans in their basic instance are easily emotionally manipulated, and that's the main reason for the confusion of these two words in our modern society. Let me repeat this message again. There is a line that you should not cross and this line lies between want and need. Now, you might think that to be a minimalist, you should buy what is a need and cut down what is a want, absolutely not. For me, minimalism is all about the intentional use of stuff, and if what you are going to own will add an intentional value to your life or someone else's life whether it is a need or a want; it has already met my stander definition of minimalism. For instance, you want to buy something, and it's a want, so I used want; at the same time, owning this thing will make you happy or make someone else happy ( with knowing the difference between instantaneous and long-term happiness Crucial ). Then, you should buy it, because of the value that shall be accomplished by owing this thing.

Moving forward, both want and need should be bought as long as they add value and purpose for you or others.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF MINIMALISM?

I know for sure that no one has ever told you that you can do more with less, but let me be the first.

Minimalism will help you in the next three areas of your life:

financial side

Time

productivity side

relationships side

stress-free life

FINANCIAL SIDE:

Financial freedom is a goal for most people, nowadays. However, far fewer people achieve it, and far fewer die with it. The answer to financial freedom in most societies is all about working more and hard. Conversely, it's not about how many times you put into work, it's about the perceived value of your work. So, as I said you can achieve financial freedom with less, and here is how. When you adopt minimalism or essentialism, you will cut out so many expenses that were used to buy invaluable stuff. As a result, you will have so much money left to invest or even starting a business in the long run. In addition, you will have saved so much time rather than working because you do not want the extra money from working overtime, so you have saved time and money by living with enough. Going forward, I am going to show you what can be done with more time.

TIME:

You have been told over the years that time is the most important asset of your life, but you have not compromised this statement well enough. However, you will be fully aware of it at the bed of death.  Although this might seems harsh, there is a way out, and this way can be thrown Intentional living. When you become a minimalist by removing all the distractions, you will realize how much time you have and how to get the best use of it. Time will give you the chance to answer life's most difficult questions and offer you a journey to your inner self. Another benefit is having more space to establish a fulfilled relationships with those who matter the most to you. Minimalism is a way to boost your productivity because you will have the space and time to work on what's really matters and the freedom to do more of what you pleased.

STRESS-FREE LIFE:

Among all the problems that minimalism offers a solution for, we can look at two of them and explain how minimalism or essentialism can help people overcome them. First, information overload. As we live in a grown society, technology makes it so easy to get lost in the world of information. Everything has become two clicks away, and you will have all the knowledge about a certain topic. You might see this as an advantage, and it is, but up to a certain point. According to neurological science, when our brains being exposed to a new and unexperienced phenomenon, the brain will work to figure it out and all the details which are related to this certain topic. Now, imagine that with every single new thing that your eyes can observe, your brain will work to figure it out. As a result, when seeing an empty picture, you find it relieving. For example, an ocean or an empty desert. And that's where simple living entering the equation as a solution to such an issue.

The other problem that minimalism can help you with is Decision fatigue. Decision fatigue is simply being overloaded and stressed by the number of decisions that you have to take every single day. As long as the number of decisions increased, your brain will eventually lose its ability to make the perfect one due to decision fatigue. For example, you find that people spend a ridiculous amount of time choosing what to wear or which photo should they upload on social media, and neither of these decisions is life-changing ones. And here again, minimalism offers a hand.

CONCLUSION:

In a life of accumulating stuff, nothing seems to be enough. The food doesn't test as good as enough, the view isn't high enough, the car isn't fast enough, the money doesn't seem as much as enough, and then you become a slave to things and stuff. As harsh as may it sound, Stuff was designed to be controlled by us, not the other way around. As Bhagavad Gita once said, " detachment is not that you own nothing, detachment is that nothing owns you". I wish that I can tell you that minimalism will solve all your problems, but it will not. Minimalism offers you a life of meaning and freedom with less.

                                                                                                              BY: AHMED ELGDDAWY

INSPIRED BY:

Matt D'avella

The Minimalists (Joshua Fields & Ryan Nicodemus)

Leo Babauta by Zen habits

https://mnmlist.com/about/

NOTE:

This is my first article to be published on Tumblr, if you liked it. You can support my work , if you liked on https://www.patreon.com/AhmedElgddawy .