In this world we are geared to having things. Whether that’s buying things, having things, just accumulating stuff over the years. We need shelter, clothing, food and water as a basic start. But all the extra additions are just luxuries. All the items we are told that we need to own to show our social status, is so unnecessary.
How much is enough?
According to research, about 50% of household food in the UK gets thrown away each week. This means it is wasted. Which means that there’s too much! How can we throw such a lot of food away as a society, when parts of the world are starving? Somewhere along the line, the act of sharing produce around and caring for the community seems to have gone by the wayside. In the UK, supermarkets and food shops cannot give leftover food to homeless shelters, in case someone is poisoned from the food given for free. Someone could sue them if they became ill from eating the food. Yet, surely most people would be grateful of the food and the likelihood of becoming ill from the food alone must be slim. The prospect of “just enough” is something that not many people live by. How can we, when the world seemingly revolves around having more?
A simple life is focused not on having the burden of excess, but knowing when enough is enough. Decluttering your life, from both physical and mental constraints will work wonders on your attitude and out look. Spend more time focusing on relationships with others, making your house a home and enjoying the little things in life. Having a cake baking in the oven, like this lemon drizzle cake, kettle on and some time to myself means I’ve got a luxury some people do not have; some time to myself and a cosy space to call my own. How lucky am I?
The abundance of everything is a negative thing. People forget how to appreciate the little things. You don’t have to grow your own food anymore, you just get in your own vehicle and drive the supermarket to buy it. You don’t have to make do and mend, you just go into town and buy some new clothes. You don’t have to worry about the weather because it isn’t going to ruin your plants/crops and your life doesn’t depend on them.
As I work towards a simple life, the less I need. I am trying to de-clutter more and more from our home – how many books do I need?! As birthdays and Christmas draw ever closer, I wonder just what I need in my home. I’d much rather have experiences, like going out for a meal with friends and family, then another 10 DVDs to our collection. If I want to watch a film, I should either borrow it from someone else, or wait until it comes on the tv. I’ve got a Kindle which is supposed to help me with the amount of books I currently have, but it hasn’t worked very well so far. If I want new books, I should go to the library and support that, rather than bringing more items into our house that take up more space. It really is true that you fill the space you own, no matter how big or small.
To answer my first question, enough is just enough to get by. Enough is feeling content with what you have already, not what you don’t.
Enough is enough, and nothing more.
Do you agree? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! Also, please share this post if you liked it.
I agree! Have you ever gone to the mall and watched all the people with bags and bags of clothes and yet realized they look just like everyone else?! The money they’re spending doesn’t make them appear any different than anybody else. It feels good to have new things once in a while but when do we say, ‘this is enough!’?
I agree about finding your enough and not blowing past it. I’m about simplifying my life too. Decluttering stuff and activities that I don’t find bring me pleasure or that add stress to my life. At this point, going to the grocery store is much less stressful than growing our own food. We all make choices and everyone is different.
I knew that we as a country wasted a lot I never knew it was that much. I think if we start teaching kids were food really comes from they start to respect more as grown up and be more mindful of waste
It makes me sad to think about how much food I have wasted. I tend to do smaller grocery shops to avoid it when I’m living at home, but it is a lot more expensive to do it that way too.
This is something I struggle with in terms of how much money should I aim for a month. Will $1000 extra make much of a difference to my happiness? Probably not.