I am an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and while pursuing my study; I came across some amazing concepts of Primary foods. Primary foods are foods that are off the plate. It encompasses all aspects of Holistic Health such as physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual.
In the quest for living a holistic life, I am starting to question and asses my life at a much deeper level. And that has led me to believe that materialistic things don’t always confirm a happy life. Having less doesn’t mean living small, I guess we all know and have experienced this idea at least once time in our lives. Instances when we have experienced immense joy and success without spending any money. And yet those moments are unforgettable. Couple of years ago, minimalism was a foreign concept to me. So why am I talking about this now, did I become a minimalist? No, I haven’t yet. I have been thinking about this idea a lot lately. Why?
Before I come to that, let me explain from where this idea of minimalism emerges in my life. Past 12 plus years of my life I have been globe-trotting with my husband and later my two boys joined the league. I have lived in Europe, Asia and Africa and have visited about 17 countries so far. Although I had a settled home with everything one desires for, some part of my life was always packed in a stack of boxes. These were just stuffs that I didn’t need at the time, but I perceived I will need them someday.
Basically, lots seasonal clothes, sports gears like ski sets and even fishing rods. Beddings, souvenirs that I collected from everywhere I visited on holidays, lots of shoes for different seasons, crockeries and much more. With two growing kids, there were always a pile of future need necessities. The buying for the future linked to the edge cases like what-ifs, the could-bes, and created an unbalanced sea saw of needs and splurge. Sliding up and down to secure a no scarcity tomorrow, I kept buying extra of everything. Some of them never made its way out of the box even leaving me stressed and anxious.
Now when I look back, our first move from India to Norway was 12 years ago when everything fitted in barely 5 suitcases and now 12 years later, our suitcases has moved into 200 plus boxes and the thought itself drives me anxious.
And not everything is useless of course but they do fall under essential and non-essential groups. As humans our natural inclination is always to accumulate, to add, to upgrade, and to build upon. We live in a consumer world and always buy more than we need.
Currently, I am being an observer of my own life. Stepping back and reassessing, which projects match up, what goals I have, what are my values and most importantly what values I want to instill in my kids? I realized how distracting it is to live with more and how vital it is to set limits on unnecessary things in life.
Very soon, I’ll be moving with my family to a new country and this transition phase has stirred up all my inner feelings and brought them up on the surface. Am busy segregating stuff, new things pop out from each box I open and I wonder why I still have this? Well, that is how the 5 suitcases turned to 200 plus boxes, right. Recently all of the past experiences of preserving these old stuffs and moving with them from one country to another, setting up space to store them doesn’t seem right. What once felt precious, now feels chaotic. There is a sense of awareness when I hear my inner voice which is inviting me to believe “less is more”. I want to live a more deliberate life with more mindful material consumptions.
Lately, I have been inspiring myself with a lot reading, listening to podcasts and my most recent watch is a documentary called “Minimalism” on Netflix by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. These meaningful exposures are helping me amplify my thoughts and remind me to live more deliberately. As an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, I strive to live with what I preach to my clients. And often reminding myself and others that progress is better than perfection.
Minimalism by no means is a life of deprivation or anything. I still want to spend money that will augment my life in an intrinsic way rather than extrinsic. For example, the food that I buy which will serve my body at a cellular level is still important to me. The holidays we plan as a family which will give us quality time to enjoy the beauty of the world together and share some fun and laughter along, or, buying stuff to use for my business will all still be meaningful expenditures.
Many times our mind battles through any new habit we want to acquire any new ideology we want to adapt and it’s because it is hard work for the brain too. So it kind of tries to protect us. The key to setting yourself up to living a more meaningful life is to set limits on unnecessary stuffs and material distractions.
Here what is helping me emerge from negotiable to non-negotiable? Asking high mileage questions. Do I really need this? What purpose does this serve me in my life? What happens if I don’t buy this? Is there anything I already have that can serve my current needs? How often will I use this? How can I live a healthy lifestyle and balance needs versus purchase versus consumption? All these questions when asked before buying anything will make us into a smart and conscious consumer. We all have this unbiased inner voice that we need to tap into, learn to trust your inner instincts.
You will be surprised! And one last message is to….