It's Time to Face the Truth: We're All Minimizing Something

"I could never be a minimalist."

Nine times out of 10, this is what people say when I tell them what I write about.  "I could never give up my _____."  "It would just be too hard."  "I wouldn't want to limit myself."

But here's the truth we hide from:  We're all minimizing something, whether we realize it or not.

We're already limited.

Every day, we make choices about how we'll spend our time, energy, money, attention, talents, affections, and more.  These important assets are all finite.  Even the richest or most talented person has a limit on his or her time and attention.  No one can have or do everything.

So every day, we have to decide how we're going to use these precious resources.  And every choice is a trade-off.  If I say yes to doing or buying or listening to one thing, I have to say no to something else.  If I choose more possessions, I have to give up something else.  If I choose more work, I can't do something else.

Our accumulated choices determine the course of our lives.

This can be a hard truth to face, because we can't turn back the clock and fix our less-than-optimal choices.  What we can do is become more intentional, starting today.

Decide what you'll minimize.

Maybe you'll start down the path of minimalism in order to have less to pay for, insure, maintain, repair, and store.  You might want more room in your house, more money in your wallet, or more time to do something besides take care of your possessions.  You're making the choice to minimize what you own in order to enjoy all of those benefits.

Or maybe you'll be attracted to minimalism because you want to get out of debt and support your family on one salary (or even retire early).  When you get more thoughtful about how you use your money, and say no to purchasing things you don't need, you open the door to other possibilities.

Of course, the opposite is true.  We see it all the time.  We choose to buy things we don't need because they're trendy, on sale, because we're bored, or some other not-too-convincing reason.  Maybe we choose to work more hours, and spend less time with our loved ones.  Or we spend more time on social media, playing video games, or watching TV, and neglect other options.  We may even choose to eat more calories than we need, or food that's not healthy, instead of filling up on more nourishing choices.  (I do this.)  All of these actions might be unconsidered, driven by habit or other forces, rather than intentional.

But when we maximize one thing, we are by definition minimizing something else.

It's time to face this truth and become conscious.  Are we making choices to maximize things that really matter?  Things with lasting value?  Things that add meaning to life?  Will we reach the end of our lives and be glad we minimized some things so we could focus on others?

You might not realize it, but there's a correlation between how much you own and how much time, money, energy, and attention you have for other things.  You're choosing to minimize some things, but are they the right things?

You're already a minimalist.  You're already putting limits on some areas in order to have more for others.  It's time to face that truth, and figure out if you're really happy about how you're choosing to do it.