“You live as if you were destined to live forever, no thought of your frailty ever enters your head, of how much time has already gone by you take no heed. You squander time as if you drew from a full and abundant supply, though all the while that day which you bestow on some person or thing is perhaps your last.”
-Seneca
The only constants in life are death and taxes.
We are frugal with our money yet we are always wasteful with the most precious resource, time.
I like to live a minimalist lifestyle. I have been trying to sell away things I do not need on Carousell and discard things that do not have any value. I am focusing on doing things that will derive greater happiness, health, enjoyment and freedom.
I am indifferent to material possessions because I know that I do not own anything forever at all. When we die, we cannot bring anything away with us. I seldom buy new things nowadays except for basic necessities, food and other essentials. I only have 1 phone, 1 computer and do not wear a watch. All other spare phones, laptops and electronic gadgets have been sold off. I still have alot of old clothings, old documents that I will be getting rid off soon. I have curb my temptation to buy more things. I learn to appreciate the things that I already own and maximize their use fully.
Your house, your car, your dog, your watch, your phone, your wife, your children can all be taken away from you all in an instant. We do not know when but it certainly will happen. All our material possessions are borrowed items from the earth while we are still breathing. Everyone we know will die. Everything we own does not belong to us and will be destroyed.
This morning we learnt that NBA star Kobe Bryant and his daughter crashed out in a helicopter. His $600m networth and possessions all taken away from him in an instant. The death toll for Wuhan Coronavirus has climbed above 80. This is just the official figure and there could be at least 10 times more casualties in reality. Everyday fatal accidents happen on the roads and it could happen to anyone. Life is fragile and uncertain. While we are feasting and having fun during the CNY long weekend, there are many people battling to keep hold of their lives on this earth, struggling to keep hold of the time they were given to spend in this earth. We have to be mindful and grateful of our limited existence on earth.
I shall stop rambling here. I just wanna highlight the facts in life and we only need basic essentials to live and should not the urge to buy more and more things. I believe that being a minimalist prepares us well to focus on the priorities in life and be mindful that everything we own can be taken away. Thanks for reading.
With love and peace,
Qiongster
Beautifully said... 💖
ReplyDeleteDont know how old you are, but people who think about death and matters relating to death are usually the older people and / or people who are suffering ill health, or who are not doing well in life.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wrong and in fact, I believe people should plan ahead (including how their belongings and wealth should be distributed upon their demise) when they're in good health, because as you rightly pointed out, no one knows when their time will be up!
I live quite simply also, and am still wearing the same clothes that I bought when my children were toddlers but who are now young working adults. However, you will one day come into this situation where you see your wealth growing at a steady clip into a significant amount and wonder what's it all for? You will ask yourself "what and why am I working so hard and saving all this money for!?" "If not for myself and my family, then for who or for what!?"
I have thus come to this decision that we should live comfortably and yet charitably. Living comfortably to us means having a family car, living in a condo with full facilities near your doorstep, attending live performances and overseas holidays every now & then. Go for experiential things that enrich your life rather accumulate material things that add nothing to, but clutter up your life.
Living charitably to us means giving generously to charitable causes.
Life is to be lived and not to be wasted preparing for death.
Thanks for reading and providing valuable comments! I am in mid 30s but tend to have contrarian mindset. I believe everyone old or young should always be mindful that we do not live forever and there is no need to have many possessions. I believe that splurging money on experiences is worthy and meaningful. But this is a subjective topic that not everyone can agree. In a nutshell, I just want to correlate minimalism and shortness of life.
Delete