Message from:

BECOMING MINIMALIST

by Joshua Becker

 

 

Mae West once said,

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

​

There is more joy to be found in owning less than we can ever find pursuing more. This truth lies at the heart of minimalism. And it is, in many ways, a message we already know to be true.

 

Unfortunately, since the day we were born, we have been told something very different by marketers and advertisers and a society built upon consumerism and consumption.

 

On average we see 5,000 advertisements every day and every single one of them seeks to convince us that possessions make us happy. And because we hear that message so many times, from so many angles, we begin to believe it. As a result, we start spending our lives working long hours to make good money so that we can buy more and more stuff: bigger houses, nicer cars, trendier fashion, cooler toys, faster technology.

 

But when we again hear the simple message there is more joy to be found in owning less than we can find pursuing more, it rings true in our hearts. Deep down, we know possessions don’t equal joy. And we know our life is far too valuable to waste chasing them.

 

That is one of the reasons this website reaches over two million readers every month and our Facebook page includes millions more. People want an alternative to the insatiable desire for more—and Becoming Minimalist is a place that offers it.

 

Let me encourage you today in your journey:

 

Your life is short. Time goes by quick. And once we use it up, we can’t get it back. So make the most of it. Possessions steal your time and energy. They require unending maintenance to be cleaned, maintained, fixed, replaced, and removed. We often don’t even notice this fact… until it’s too late.

 

Your life is unique. Your look, your personality, your talents, and the people who have influenced your life have made you special. Your life is exactly like no one else. And just because everyone else is chasing material possessions doesn’t mean you have to too.

 

Your life is significant. Far more than success, our hearts desire significance because significance lasts forever. On the other hand, possessions are temporal. They perish, spoil, and fade. And most of them, by design.

 

Your life is designed to inspire. Make footprints worth following. Nobody ever changed the world by following someone else. People who change the world live differently and inspire others to do the same. Possessions may briefly impress, but they never inspire.

 

Your life is important. Your heart and soul make you valuable. Don’t sacrifice your important role in this world by settling for possessions that can be purchased with a card of plastic.

 

And your life deserves better. Joy, happiness, and fulfillment are found in the invisible things of life: love, hope, peace, and relationships. And they are not on sale at your local department store. Stop looking for them there.

 

People who live their lives in pursuit of possessions are never content. They always desire newer, faster, or bigger because material possessions can never satisfy our deepest heart desires.

 

Your life is too valuable to waste chasing material possessions. Choose instead to create more time and space for the things that matter most.

 

To begin taking more steps in the journey to own less and live more, read this: Go Ahead. Start Decluttering with the Easiest Step. I think you will find it helpful.

​

- Joshua Becker

​

​