Annie Jean Brewer - Minimize to Maximize: Minimize Your Stuff to Maximize Your Life

MINIMIZE TO MAXIMIZE

MINIMIZE YOUR STUFF TO MAXIMIZE YOUR LIFE

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Copyright 2012 by Annie Jean Brewer

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Over a decade ago I found myself a singleparent of three young daughters. After cramming as much of ourstuff into a tiny mobile home that would fit, we put the rest in astorage building. Every week we would drive there, rotating itemsinto and out of storage in order to just have enough room tobreathe.

In those days the kids could demolish threerooms in the time it took me to clean one. It was a never-endingbattle; I worked multiple jobs, went to school, cared for the kidsbut somehow I still had to find time to take care of our home. Iwas so completely exhausted that when friends even suggestedI take some time off I became hostile; I desperately needed MOREtime to do what needed to be done, not LESS!

One day in a fit of rage I started gatheringup stuff and throwing it away. Oh my! The open space recharged me,inspired me to do even more. Boxes and bags and more ended updumped at the curb on trash day and I came to a realization thatchanged my life:

The less I owned, the easier it was toclean.

The less I owned, the less there was to tripover.

The less we had, the less I had to work topay for it!

Eventually I was able to pare down not onlyour possessions but our finances as well. This enabled me to pursuetwo of my most cherished dreams: that of a writer and thatof a stay at home single mom. I purchased a mobile home inWestern Kentucky and counted my blessings.

When my youngest daughter was taken from herelementary school by her father in late 2009 I used minimalism tofocus upon what needed to be done to get her back. I spent most oftwo years driving back and forth from Paducah to Central Kentuckyfor court dates and visitations.

In February of 2011 I took minimalism to thelimit for this challenge. I gave almost everything we ownedmobilehome, furniture, clothes and allto a homeless woman, loaded up myvan and drove away to get closer to my daughter and eliminate thatdrive.

Instead of focusing on what society thinkswe should have we concentrate on what makes our lives better. Forinstance, instead of spending the extra money on a 2 bedroom houseI keep my bed in the living room of our 1 bedroom cottage.

Instead of investing in televisions and gamemachines we each have our own personal laptop computer that we useto listen to music, watch movies(online and off), send and receive text messages andeven chat on the phonewith .

Instead of a car payment we have an oldervan that was purchased with cash.

Instead of a job that takes me away fromhome I work on my laptop writing books and articles for my website . This enables me tobe at home for my youngest daughter and to enjoy her fleetingchildhood.

There is no deprivation to be found in ourlifestyle. We buy what we need, when we need it. We are able to dothis without worry because we are able to keep our bills so low. Wemeasure our success not by money but by the time we have free toenjoy each other.

Instead of going to the mall we take a walkto the park.

Instead of going out to eat we grab somesnacks and have a picnic.

Instead of shopping when were bored we readbooks, tell stories and play games with each other. Sometimes wejust sit and enjoy being close in silence.

To my surprise, Katies friends all want tocome here to visit instead of entertaining at their homes. Theystate that it is much more fun at our house because there is moreto see and do here than at their homesdespite the fact that theyhave many more physical possessions than we do. They have toldKatie that we are cool and that she is very lucky to live with amom who wants to stay home and be with herand that they wish thattheir parents would do the same.

At first some of our friends were disturbedwhen they discovered how little we lived on (and with) but oncethey saw what we have accomplished with what we have they wereamazed.

There is no wrong or right in the pursuit ofminimalism. Each of us has our own unique needs and minimalism,properly applied, allows us to meet those needs without beingoverwhelmed by excess.

For instance, those with large families willneed a much larger home (and lots more stuff) than the singleperson who wants to travel.

Those who live off the land need tools andequipment that the city dweller would consider useless.

Some prefer thrift shops while others preferArmani.

Still others will want to live on less than100 things while some of us (like me) consider numbering ourpossessions a waste of time and energy. As long as we have what weneed who cares if it is more or less than what is owned by the guydown the street?

The only one to please in your pursuit ofminimalism is you. Never lose sight of this, for you are theonly one responsible for your happiness. If it pleases you to focuson one item (like clothing) then pare down the other things in yourlife that you dont consider important like movies or petsor shoes.

Minimalism can free you to achieve dreamsand goals that would have been impossible otherwise.

When you minimize you will have extra moneyavailable that you can use to pay off debt, purchase a home, take avacation or build your retirement account.

You can choose to work less and take thefree time to spend with family or pursue your passions. You caneven choose to start building passive income to free yourself frompublic jobs entirely. I used minimalism while building my websiteand writing business and nowwork when I want to , where I want to and live a lifethat most only dream about.

You can do this too.

When you eliminate the excess from your lifethe possibilities will blossom before you. Your stress level willdecrease, your free time will increase and life will become morerelaxed. Your health may even improve; I went from almost 200pounds to 135 without even tryingjust from making a few simplechanges.

The following pages detail the tips andtricks I have learned in my minimalist journey. You may not want orneed to use everything listed here; these are guidelines, not hardand fast rules.

This is YOUR journey; above all have funwith this. Do what makes you comfortable and skip the rest. You mayfind that you are ready for some aspects of minimalism but othersmake you nervous. Thats okay. You may jump in head first or justdip your toes in the water to try the sensation. You may want toread this book several times, taking away something new to try eachtime. Make yourself happy and the rest will fall into place.

One of the first steps on the path tominimalism is to quiet the thoughts that are constantly raging inyour head. This will allow you to clear your mind and focus betteras you go through your day.

Many will master this step with ease but forme this is one of the hardest. I still wrestle with runawaythoughts throughout the day but over time they have decreased inintensity. My stress level has decreased with them, making this oneof the most important aspects of the minimalist life.