“Corporations supply only what we demand; thus, if we change our desires, we change the world.”
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At What Point Is Enough, Enough?
Words by Carl Phillips
In a world where we are sold more of more, at what point does enough become enough?
This is a question I’ve pondered lots over the last several years.
In my initial foray into trying to live a simpler life, after years of chasing more, I tried the opposite and sought less. While less was a valuable entry point (and is a great place to start), at some point we reach enough.
We hit a point of diminished returns.
What enough looks like for each of us is personal.
My version of enough may look cluttered to some and stripped back to others. If it’s enough for me, and the people I share space with, that’s fine. Comparisons matter little to me these days.
Minimalism—Friend or Foe?
Minimalism, so often sold as the antidote to our modern cluttered lives, can take a strange turn. We see the hashtags and platitudes—“Less Is More”, “Pare Down” etc. I’ve used them to share articles (and no doubt will use them again). However, this can lead to an odd set of circumstances where we never feel like we have stripped back our lives enough. There’s always more that can be jettisoned.
Perhaps we strip back too far, and our lives become bare. We say no to life passions to conserve funds and become increasingly frugal, afraid to part with our money for just about anything. Life loses some sparkle.
In attempts to reach a set number of clothing items in our wardrobe, we go too far and throw out some of our favourite pieces. All in the name of reaching an artificial baseline that was never going to fit for us.
Is this what minimalism and living simply is all about? A race to zero. I think not.
Simple should never mean barren. Quite the opposite, we simplify to bring more colour into our lives.
We can ensure the balance does not tip too far by staying close to the following question:
What does enough look like for me?
While our answers to this question may change over time, we can live a life in accordance with our responses.
We can live a rich life filled with the things, experiences and people that matter most to us, that give us most back. Distraction-free for sure but not a sterile or monastic existence. That should never be the goal.
Not too little, not too much—there’s a power in enough.
Success Does Not Exist
Words by Joshua Fields Millburn
What do you think of
when you think of success?
A trophy, award, or achievement?
A specific number of followers?
A certain amount of money?
While there’s nothing “wrong” with these things,
a dozen championships won’t increase your tranquility,
a thousand admirers won’t bring you peace,
a million dollars won’t make you happy.
Craving an outcome anchors you to a future that does not exist,
and drags you from the peace of the present moment.
If you always need more—
more cash, more clout, more commendations—
then you’ll never have enough,
and you’ll continue to yearn.
Yearning leads only to misery.
And misery isn’t success—it’s failure.
What about winning?
Isn’t that the definition of success?
To take home a trophy is to take home a relic that points to the past,
another attachment that wrests you from the present moment.
Winning isn’t innately good or bad.
But the compulsion to win—
to compete, to be number one—
is a prison.
Imagine you’re trapped in a spacious jail cell
surrounded by trophies.
Does that sound like success?
If you win the game but lose equanimity,
what have you won?
Nothing.
You’ve lost everything.
But what about raising well-rounded children?
Or establishing better habits?
Or donating to charity?
Surely, these are the endeavors of a successful person!
You’re free to do any of these things,
to create and consume and contribute with abandon.
But as soon as you attach happiness to an outcome,
you place yourself back behind bars,
because you’re living in the future again.
Running after a result isn’t success—it’s chasing.
Chasing the past or the future.
Success is always bound to chasing.
Chasing is attachment.
Attachment is suffering.
Suffering is failure.
Do the math.
If A equals B,
and B equals C,
then success equals failure.
This may be hard for you to grasp.
Because you’ve been sold a meme your entire life.
You’ve been told that success equals happiness.
That you’re just one accomplishment away from happy.
But you weren’t given the truth:
happiness is your default state.
It appears when you stop chasing.
Happiness needn’t be pursued to be reached.
The pursuit of happiness is just another form of chasing.
It is only when you drop the pursuit that you realize happiness.
Influence, wealth, and status are all hapless hunts.
Getting more does not make you successful.
Striving for more makes you excessful.
Excess is accompanied by restlessness, pain, and misery.
So travel the path toward success if you want.
Simply know that path diverges from peace.
Peace is found only in the present,
through awareness and letting go.
That’s not to say that you “should” let go.
Or that you should be happy.
Or that you should not fail.
There is no should.
But if you want peace,
it is not found on the horizon,
or in the rearview mirror.
A Little More of Less
A few other articles we think you might enjoy…
→ 10 Things You Can Do Today to Live More Like a Minimalist by Joshua Becker
→ Inspiration Overload by Manu Moreale
→ Stuff: The Thief of Time by Emma Jayne
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