We live in a culture that encourages us to “get things”. We are taught that the more things we have, the happier we will be. The more expensive the things are, the more successful we are. We equate our happiness and success, in large part, with the ownership of these things.
Even though we hear the phrase often nowadays, “just let go”, we have not been taught how to let things go. We hold on. Because our identity has been falsely wrapped up in the things we own, we are reluctant to let anything go.
Imagine if you had to move into a tiny space tomorrow, what would you take with you? Your most expensive possessions? The things you bought during your travels which hold wonderful memories? The things given to you by those people you love? Only the things that make your life easier?
I did this exercise with some friends and we each chose 5 things in each room of our homes that we would take to our new tiny space. It was difficult! We all wanted to take more things. Then we tried to imagine losing everything we owned. Being left with NO possessions and starting fresh. What would we put in our new spaces? Somehow this was easier. With a clean slate, we didn’t have to let go of things we had become attached to. We only had to focus on “getting” new stuff!
Letting go takes practice. Learning not to equate our happiness with “things” takes practice. Remembering that “the best things in life are free” takes practice.
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