“Letting go is not something you do. It is something you stop doing.”
Inside Minimalism
Subscribe to Our Weekly Series
You can subscribe to become a member of our Inside Minimalism series brought to you by our dedicated team of writers. Subscribe for a year and save 50%.
Get the Book
If a subscription isn’t for you, you can still enjoy our series of essays on simple living by downloading Volume 1, which contains a collection of 50 short essays.
→ Download the eBook or Order the Print Book
A Watered-Down Life
Words by Andrew Rocha
Water is essential to our existence. Fruits and vegetables rely on water to grow. Animals drink water to live.
Water can also do a lot of damage.
Mudslides.
Tsunamis.
Flooding.
When something is watered down, it becomes diluted, weaker, and less impactful.
The same principle applies when I’m not intentional with my resources.
A post full of dull sentences drowns out the profound ones.
A closet full of clothes we dislike buries the clothes we enjoy.
A house full of clutter hides the beautiful possessions.
A life full of stress obscures the peace and stillness underneath.
As The Minimalists wrote, “If everything is precious, then nothing is precious.”
Curation is the catalyst to beauty. Intentionality is the path to a meaningful life.
Yet minimalism doesn’t require us to travel down the road of spartanism and pursue excessive decluttering. Water is necessary to life, as is stuff.
The key is to curate the things that resonate most at this stage of life. There is no set list—you get to decide. Make minimalism work for you.
Instead of watering down your life, start enjoying it with deliberate intention. May your life become richer and less watered down because of it. After all, life is too short to be diluted.
Assessing Our Relationships
Words by Shuba
Once I decided to approach everything in my life with the simple question Is this adding value?, I was able to get rid of many things that weren’t adding value or, worse, were sabotaging my life, including toxic people
Our lives, thoughts, and actions are greatly influenced by the kind of people we associate with. It is important that these people are authentic and do not negatively influence us. Here are some of the kinds of toxic people I distanced myself from.
Abusive People
It is no secret that verbally or physically abusive people are harmful for our very existence. If we constantly associate with people who put us down, at some point we may start to believe the negative things they say about us. These people are not good for our physical and mental well-being. I moved away from such people and made it difficult for them to reach or find me.
Jealous People
People who are jealous of us may goad us into doing things that are not best for us. They will speak sweetly to us and tell us things we want to hear but that are not necessarily best for us. Jealous people can hold us back from taking risks and from getting out of our comfort zone. Once I understood the motivations of those jealous of me, I stopped paying them heed and began acting according to my own convictions and dreams.
Gossipers
I realized that associating with people who speak negatively and gossip about other people only added drama to my life and occupied mind space that I couldn't afford to give up. I also realized that the same people could go around gossiping about me, and so it was best to distance myself from them.
Energy Vampires
These are the people who we are always saving, either from someone else or from themselves. If we constantly feel drained by speaking to someone, they are probably an energy vampire. These people do not have a handle on their lives. Of course, being a good friend involves occasionally helping someone who has a problem or giving advice in a tough situation. But once we begin noticing a pattern of certain people constantly draining us of our energy, it is best to avoid them. We only have limited energy, and we need to spend it wisely.
Controlling People
These are the people who will try to control others and always get their way. Any relationship should have a balance of give-and-take, and once we notice a pattern of control or manipulation in a relationship, it is best to let the relationship gracefully die.
Final Thoughts
If we value ourselves, our goals, and our time, we need to assess our relationships and associate with people who are authentic and wish us well. These people will inspire us, challenge us, give us constructive criticism, and most importantly, tell us the truth whether we like to hear it or not. Such people will bring positivity into our lives and help us grow into the person we want to be. We should seek out more of them and remove the others.
A Little More of Less
A few other articles we think you might enjoy…
→ “Can I Afford It?” is a Terrible Filter by Joshua Becker
→ Four Things I Will Live Without This Year by Emma Scheib
→ Three Practices to Celebrate Your Day by Leo Babauta
Are any of your friends interested in minimalism or living simply?
If so, please invite them to subscribe.