“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires but in his integrity and his ability to affect those mourned him positively.” – Bob Marley
Throughout my journey of owning less the view I have of myself and others has changed immensely. How does society define success? The people who spend and make the money and keep all these resources to themselves are the ones called “the successful ones.” Some of the real successful people are simply richer because they have decided to focus on having less material things. So I guess they are not successful in worldly terms but who cares. In this capitalistic world people want more and more. Better, faster, higher and always the latest gadgets. I think it is important to focus on other than just materialistic things. I want to share a little list of things that just do not matter to me anymore. Maybe you get inspired.
The fancy house. I believe that a house provides a base, stability, shelter and safety. This does not mean necessarily a lot of square footage. I have moved many times in my life already and I like creating a nice home for my family. There is just a certain pride in all this to provide a nice environment for everyone. I am just not really impressed by these mansions people have. “Good for them,” I think. I am happy with what I have and where I am in life.
Clothing and accessories. I am a woman and I do love nice jewelry and clothing. I do have two nice rings. The one my husband gave me for the engagement and the other one for the wedding. But does it matter how expensive these rings were? Do I really put myself in debt for a wedding ring and make sacrifices every day do pay of said debt? I do not even want to go into a big wedding party and all that. The most important thing is the vowels we made to each other – to simply trust each other and love each other. The ring is not that important. When it comes to clothing I have to say that it is not important what brand name is written in or on my clothing. Where it is manufactured is important. Have you ever looked where your $200 Burberry jeans is made? Yep, China. With clothing it is definitely quality over quantity for me. Do you want to become a walking billboard? I don’t think so. I am not really impressed by the watch you wear, the shirt or any of that stuff. I love it however if you wear something timeless and you wear it with confidence. You want to make an impression by WHO you are – not what you wear.
Retirement. Is it important to count down the days or hours until retirement to wait for the big trip that you are going to do? To retire seems like the ultimate goal for people. You ask anybody and they tell you: “I have several [….] years left to retirement.” Many people dream of all these nice things that they will do once they retire. You live HERE and NOW. Try to make it work HERE and NOW somehow. Don’t wait until retirement! Who knows if you really reach it! I got towed today because my car got stuck on the highway and the tow tow truck guy told me that he works TWO jobs to get his family by. (His wife has to work too now just to make ends meet). I asked him about his retirement. He said that he does not know when this will be. Probably when he is 75 because then all his mortgage will be paid of along with his student loans. Sad! The American Dream I guess.
Your cellphone and the photos you share. The other day I waited for the UPS delivery because my husband told me I have to sign for the package that is going to arrive. The package arrived and in it was a brand new iPhone 6. Say whaaaat? Yes! I used his old iPhone 4 for the longest time now and I was fine with it. He simply got an upgrade for his phone so he sent me this new iPhone 6. People look what kind of phone you have and judge. On the playground, when you take pictures, it is just the weirdest thing. Like who the hell cares! Many always want the latest technology and the latest gadgets. Not me. I was fine with what I had but then came the new phone. It still takes me a while to get adjusted and I like it. The key is though that I did not need it and I would not have gotten it for myself. Recently I heard about this app you can download on your iPhone – YouCamPerfect! There you have the option to change your selfie into the “perfect” you. Change your appearance, your hair, the shape of your face blablabla… how about showing your face the way it is? The way you really look? Who are you hiding from? Yourself?
Overall I would say that the dollars in a bank account are by far not the greatest measurement of success. I think it is more important to accomplish an amount of good in our little lives while we are allowed to play around on this planet earth. We should not try to impress others with all these things we own and maybe start to inspire them instead by the way we really should live our life.
