WHEN LESS IS MORE

WHEN "LESS" IS "MORE"
by Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.

There is a strange addiction in our society today. I call it the addiction to more...more...more. Sound familiar? More clothes. Bigger houses. Fancier cars. Exhausting! You may think that excessive accumulation is a characteristic only of the rich. Not so! I have visited many homes of rich and poor alike, and I am struck by the excess of "things" that seem to be everywhere. I would suggest that our need to accumulate more...more...more is not improving our lives; rather it is bringing the quality of our lives down...down...down.
If you think about it, our lives would be so much easier if we would focus on getting rid of things instead of accumulating things. By definition, our addiction to "more" creates a need to work so hard that true enjoyment of life becomes impossible. There is no time to stop and smell the proverbial roses. We become prisoners of responsibility. We struggle to relax. We work so hard on the upkeep of our lives that we have little time for pleasure and play. Our self-created burdens are very heavy, indeed. As I say in End the Struggle and Dance with Life...
"The clutter in our lives makes us feel as though we are going through life carrying a watermelon and an overloaded suitcase! It's time to drop these tremendous weights and learn how to live in the freedom that simplicity allows."
Let me introduce you to three new words to help you break your addiction to more...more...more. Those three words are simply..."LESS...LESS...LESS." Right now say these powerful words to yourself over and over again..."LESS...LESS...LESS." As you keep repeating these words, I predict that you will soon feel a sense of release...of freedom. Breathing space at last!
I speak from experience. When Mark and I sold our large house, we moved into a very small apartment just to give us time to find ourselves a new house more suited to our needs. An acquaintance bought our excess furniture thus saving us the hassle of putting it all in storage. We figured we would start fresh and buy new furniture when we found our new house. Strangely as I watched our much loved "stuff" being carted away, instead of feeling sadness, it was as though a big load was being lifted from our lives. It was a wonderful introduction to the land of less...less...less. And it felt great.
We took a 6 month lease on our little apartment with the idea of soon finding our new home. Another surprise! We fell in love...love...love with our little space. As I write this, we've now been here, not 6 months, but 6 years! And neither one of us has any desire to move! It's cozy and romantic and comfortable. It is also easy...easy...easy. A perfect example of less being more.
And something else: When we moved into our little apartment, I had to get rid of so many clothes since closet space was very limited, and once again, I felt a sense of freedom. Why did I need all those clothes to begin with? I didn't! Some of the clothes I gave away I hadn't worn in years! And because I realize that I need less clothes, I am saving so much money. Again, less is turning out to be so much more.
Yes, we are certainly blessed when we have "enough." But today as I look around this big wide wonderful world of ours, enough doesn't seem to be enough! We live with a poverty mentality. It's hard to imagine that even wealthy people can have an intense poverty mentality, but many do! I call them "the affluent poor." Or we are competitive with others. We act as though we are fearful we will fall behind in our ability to outdo everyone else! I see it all around me.
It's interesting that we all put a premium on "filling" our lives. But I think so many of us have missed the point. It makes for a much richer life to let go of the external trappings that smother us and instead "fill" our lives with those riches that take us to a higher place. And what are those riches? Beautiful times with friends and family, relaxing time to read books and experiment with life, fulfilling time to contribute to the world, and so on. It is not about filling our lives with "stuff", but filling our lives with those experiences that bring us joy. I'm left with the conclusion that...raising our standard of living is truly about accumulating less and enjoying more!
One way we can break our addiction to more...more...more is to begin giving all the excess "stuff" away. In the beginning, it may be difficult letting go. Especially letting go of that belt you haven't worn for 10 years! (Trust me on this one!) To help you feel better about giving your stuff away, I suggest that you donate your excess clothes and dishes and furniture and books...and so on...to others who truly do need what is truly excessive and unnecessary in your life. As you do this, you realize that you have made someone else's life a little easier. You become a source of abundance to them. You make a difference in this world. You become the "giver" instead of the "taker." You ultimately feel lighter and fresher and better able to see what you really need. This is what I imagine "spring cleaning" is truly about.
So look around and start giving things away. Make a game out of it and discard as many unnecessary "weights" as you can in your home and office. My rule is this: Use and enjoy that which enriches your life; let go of that which is just excess baggage. You will be surprised at how much excess baggage you will be giving away! And, importantly, you will be joyful knowing how you have enriched the lives of others.
And something very...very...very important to think about: You will be doing so much to help the survival of the planet as you consume less...less...less. Wow! That should be enough of a grand motivator to get us all going!
I suggest that starting today...together...we all begin dropping " the watermelon and the overloaded suitcase" and enter the world of less...less...less. We'll be helping the world in so many ways. Whew! I can hear the sighs of relief coming to me from all over the world! Amazing!