Let me start with my own story. 10 years ago I had over 500,000.00 in my bank. I was working in digital media. I had a car, owned part of a paid off house, was living in hotels. I was always in restaurants and going to a movie almost everyday. Life was fun. However eventually I got burnt out, and was very unhappy. Eventually it felt like people liked me more for my money than they did me. Something was off and I knew it. The simple happiness I had experienced as a kid playing hours of basketball with my friends in the cold to playing endless hours of video games with 8-10 friends and ordering pizza was gone. Some of my favorite childhood memories involved simple things like enjoying the snow or playing tag with friends. So what happened? I grew up, went to animation school, found a job, and ended up working in stressful digital media production houses. I can't complain and I am very grateful for the jobs and experience but I eventually realized that life could be so much broader and richer than the current life I was living. I had ended up also partying endlessly with people that did not really add value to my life. For someone with so much, why did I feel so poor and unhappy?
One of my friends in school came from an upper middle class Jewish family. Although his parents were all about getting rich in business and hustling to get into a corporation, my friend himself was different. He started not to care about materials. He didn't care about animation. What he did care about was helping people, volunteering, he went to Mexico to live a simple life there. At first I thought he was nuts, but I also ended up realizing how happy he was compared to when we both worked in animation. One day he gave me a copy of a film called "The Peaceful Warrior", a movie about a former college gymnast who's life changes after meetings some stranger. What I got out of the movie is the art of mindfulness and that eventually led to living a life of passion through minimalism. That is what really made me want to find my passion, which ended up being entrepreneurship.
Part of the road to living a fulfilling life is getting rid of the shit in your life that you don't need so you can spend quality time with true friends, family, and lovers. You can also spend time volunteering and giving back to people in need because it feels fantastic to genuinely help others. My family regularly donates food and clothes because our excess stuff can go to some family that truly needs it. It's one of the things my Aunt has taught me that has resonated with me. She gave up her entire fortune to help so many people in our family. While others may look down at her because she doesn't have the money she used to I am actually really proud of her. As she says she helped so many people that she has a clear conscience because she did something good with her life. She's so much happier than some of the other people in my family who until today stab each other in the back over money. Me and my Aunt live very simple lives. So if your life feels heavy, ask yourself if you are spending your time and actions on things that actually make you happy and add real value to your life and others around you or are you wasting your time and money trying to please people that don't care about you. Think about it because it could make a big difference in your life getting rid of clutter.
I accidentally came across these guys story today. I can relate to it. Sometimes it's very easy to get caught up in day to day life and at times everything can be overwhelming. Check it out.
Check out these guys, the Minimalists (TED):
Here is their blog:
http://minimalists.com/
Here is their Instagram:
https://instagram.com/theminimalists/
The Peaceful Warrior:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438315/
The Peacful Warrior Trailer:
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