A New Perspective
A couple of years ago, I sold most of my worldly belongings at an auction. I kept a couple of things, like some cherished childhood toys, but for the most part, I let everything go. Although I’ve never considered myself very materialistic, it was still very hard to do. We live in a very materialistic society, and changing your perspective on life can be very hard to do.
In the years since the big auction, I’ve slowly acquired more and more stuff. It’s easy to do. You go to the store, see something you want, and take it home. Then the older stuff gets shoved to the back of the closet. Pretty soon you no longer own your stuff. Instead, your stuff owns you.
It’s not just the quantity of material items that’s a problem, it’s the quality. After a few years of living in the same apartment, I realized that I’ve had the same decorations on the walls for years, and the same furniture in the same places. Not only did I have a lot of stuff; I had a lot of old stuff. And it was impeding my personal growth. It was keeping me from seeing the world differently. So I got rid of some stuff. I got some new stuff, and I moved some stuff around. It didn’t make me a better person, or even a different person, but it was an important symbol of change and reinvention.
This is why it’s so important to live simply. The more stuff you have, the more weighed down you will be. When you change the outer aspects of your life, you gain a new perspective, not just in how your house looks, but in how you see the world.
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