Take a look around your space right now. How much of what you have and own is really what you need, or is it just a collection of stuff you have amassed over time as testimony to your buying power?
If after your assessment you realise that half or more of what you have is not really necessary then congratulations for discovering this fact before your home turns into a storage depot! Others, I can see are still rationalizing the importance of their attachments in their quiet minds. It’s OK, take your time.
Unfortunately we live in a world where greed overpowers need. Where we are measured not by our values but by the quantity and quality of our possessions.
The sorry state of the world, and the ever-increasing corruption and erosion of values can be put down in large part to this vice of greed. The division between the ‘Haves and Have Nots’ is increasing. In truth no-one wins because everyone is suffering. Perhaps it’s time to live more simply and more authentically.
Collecting items for the sake of propping up our ego or declaring our status in the world will still leave us with a feeling of insecurity and that we are never good enough. It’s good to take a reality check from time to time and to declutter our minds as well as our homes.
Clearing the clutter is something we are often encouraged to do, we may even have the intention to do it, yet sometimes it feels so difficult to let go of possessions that we have hoarded for years, and probably never will use again. Why? Because holding on to ‘stuff’ gives us a false sense of abundance.
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Our craving for physical objects is a sign of discontent within the soul. If we are hungry for physical pleasures and pursuits, it’s because we are empty from the inside. We try to fill the void by accumulating ever more. And even after getting ‘it’, there is still the desire for more and more, which implies, ‘it’ was never enough and never will be! In fact greed is a bottomless pit that never ever gets filled.
Very often we can disguise our greed by calling it a need, which puts a lighter tone on our piggishness and numbs the conscience. All of this helps to appease our guilt of accumulating.
Only you can define what is need vs greed. A need is something that is necessary for our livelihood and well-being, whereas a want simply aggrandizes our ego. You get people’s approval when you state it as a need but disapproval when you say you want something.
For example do you really need the gourmet food, the black Porsche or the Versace silk dress, or just something to eat, some transport and something to wear?
Perhaps it sounds like a return to basics as we question ourselves every time we are pulled to buy something. But this is the game we need to play with our mind in our journey back to our inner peace and happiness and to reduce the resulting stress of running after the object of our greed.
Imagine a world without greed. It may seem like a distant dream, but it can happen when people realise that contentment does not come from having the latest gadget or gizmo, but from real self-respect.
It’s Time… to recognize what will really fill the need of the soul and to stop chasing after the illusion that more of the material possessions are going to make us feel better. De-clutter your life. Live simply and authentically. And win the game of sustaining your inner peace and power.
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