Over the past year, I made a bold decision. I decided to create more space in my home for the things I only truly enjoy in my life.
I decided to get rid of a lot of my possessions because I felt overwhelmed and wanted to focus more on being happy rather than stressed.
I know not everyone has the same reason as I did for wanting to live with fewer possessions. Some may choose to live a minimal lifestyle so that they can reduce their debt, move or travel the world, while others may want to simply reduce what they use to help save our planet.
Everyone's reason for wanting to live a minimal lifestyle is different, yet we all have the very same goal, in the end, to live with less junk.
Before I started my minimalist journey, I chose to focus on the positive. It's not easy as one would think, especially when you have ADHD, but I did it! I did it because I wanted to feel great as I was clearing out the clutter. I even included the not so noticed spaces like my car.
The biggest challenge was my car's glove compartment which was littered with lotions that had melted, a hairbrush, pens, change, receipts, and other miscellaneous. Not only did it need re-organizing, but it also needed a deep cleaning. I still haven't gotten to that part of it, but I did manage to sort and clean out my car in less than an hour. It was a great feeling and one that I continued inside of my home.
If you are considering a minimal lifestyle, the best feeling in the world is to fill one of those plastic grocery bags and tackle one small area at a time. It doesn't have to be a huge task, especially if you are feeling overwhelmed by the idea. Even if you can only part with a few items, don't worry!
Possessions can often make us feel stressed out. They can prevent us from being happy and living our lives to the fullest.
Just taking that simple step no matter how small it may be is a huge accomplishment. You may even discover that by removing items you no longer need from your home, you will have more time for the things you truly love. But you could also find that you have more energy and money from not having to clean, repair or store those unwanted possessions.
Want more reasons why minimalism is so beneficial?
How about your health for one. When you choose to live a minimal life, you live with less stuff. Less stuff means less stress. You can move freely around your home and just enjoy being in it.
Having fewer things will also mean less to clean! Growing up my mother had a ton of knick-knacks that were covered in dust, which required a weekly cleaning in addition to her regular household chores.
Owning less stuff means you can find things easier. This has always been one of my troubled areas and with my ADHD, I always found it extremely frustrating when I had to dig through piles and piles of stuff just to find something.
Another great benefit of living a minimal life is the opportunity to spend less money. Materialist things need to be cleaned, they need to be repaired, and may even need to be stored. All of those reasons include spending money. Why spend your hard-earned money on all that stuff when you could save it for that vacation you have always wanted to take.
If a vacation isn't a possibility, you could use that extra money to purchase that outdoor grill you could never afford or that walk-in shower you've been dreaming of.
You may even decide you love living the minimal lifestyle so much that you want to move into a tiny house and spend the rest of your days traveling the world.
