Option 2: If you won one million dollars, would it change, OR would it not change your Belief, Practice, or Desire to live a Minimalistic Lifestyle?
and
Option 3: How has minimalism improved the overall quality of your life and well-being and why would you encourage everyone to embark on a Minimalist journey?
I am a minimalist now. The 2nd question of this contest is: If I won one million dollars, would this change my Belief, Practice, or Desire to live a Minimalistic Lifestyle? I am much inclined to write about this option out of the three topics because it seems fun and I see more people also interested in this idea. I will also expand on topic 3 because I think it closely relates to my answer for option 2.
The first two random thoughts coming to my mind were: 1. A million won could easily net the winner only 60%, 600 thousand after taxes, thinking of it makes me a bit sad, just a little bit. 2. Is this 1 million dollars as I thought it is: US dollars; or is it Vietnam dollars/dong, which equals US 43.92 dollars? If I suddenly have $43 dollars, I will treat myself a pizza 😊...This is only for fun.
Let me start my answers below, assuming the winning of 1 million US dollars.
If I had one million in the bank now, I knew exactly what to do with it. One half would go to a trust account for my parents to buy a house to live in and to invest for passive income so they could live more comfortably according to their choices. The other half would be set up in 2 accounts: one for charity purpose and one for investment purpose, which brings me much closer to my financial goal for 10 years. With this set up I am more confident I can start exploring the world and my hobbies more frequently. I believe there would be positive changes in my life definitely in the experiences, personal development areas but not a lot of change would happen with my simple lifestyle or with my minimalistic choice. I think more money in the bank brings more stability and freedom to me. Contrary to this, acquiring more belongings (house, car, jewelry, even books) would tie me down to a location. I have no desire to own these properties at this stage of life. I would invest in real estate for investment or a piece of land in a remote area and save it for my retirement project later in life.
If anyone is surprised with my opinion on this and asks: Why don’t I desire to buy some nice personal items and Why do I continue to practice Minimalism now that I have money? Let me explain in detail the benefits being a minimalist have brought to me and hopefully you will understand and consider to give this lifestyle a try. There are lots of benefits I received in the past 6 years choosing this lifestyle and I can’t describe everything in a short discussion. I will focus on main and crucial reasons why I know for sure I will continue to choose Minimalism every day of my life.
1. Financial benefit:
The most obvious benefit of Minimalism is money saving. First, when I sold my belongings to downsize and move, I got some money from this. Second, I stopped buying unnecessary items (clothes & shoes, souvenirs and household items) which saved me money throughout the year. After a while fighting with impulsive shopping, I got used to a more conscious way of shopping. I even save on grocery and food cost because I don’t overbuy and waste food like before.
Added benefits: I am more patient with myself and know how to wait to spend money (wait on any big decision to buy a few days or weeks and if I still want it, I will consider buying). I have trained myself to be conscious and careful, to reduce usage, and when possible, I buy local products to support local vendors. I also believe buying less contribute to preserve Mother Earth’s resources.
And the one BEST benefit to this process is I save more precious time of shopping, cleaning, organizing and maintaining my personal belongings, closet and fridge. With more time, I can connect more with family & friends and spend more on reading, biking, hiking and other free and fun activities. I feel better about myself day by day.
Simple furnishing
2. Mental health:
Practicing Minimalism can be challenging at first because of society expectations, of old habits, of stress, etc. However, after a while, I became more comfortable with less belongings and more time and I could balance between spending and experiencing new things. I started to enjoy this lifestyle after over a year practicing because the benefit now includes my mental health. There is less clutter in my mind. The mind becomes clearer and stronger. The process started with sweeping the physical living environment and then spread to my mental space. I don’t have to waste my mental energy now on: remembering all the clothes I have (but still think I don’t have anything to wear!), organizing 20 pieces of furniture I rarely use but can’t give away, worrying about missing out on the next big sale and lost shipment of my orders, storing 5 big boxes of books I moved from one place to another and never had time to open them…I now believe that our belongings also are collection of energy, the more material items we have, the more energy we need to earn money, buy and maintain them.
Since going simple, I feel more at ease inside. The stress of a messy house has gone 70% or more. Therefore, I am not excited to add any more items into my space unless I really enjoy it or I will use it very frequently.
3. Freedom, flexibility:
Even the first 2 benefits would be enough to keep me with Minimalistic lifestyle. But there are much more. Once my mind was more relaxed, I started to feel a great sense of freedom in life. Minimalism gives its practitioners a chance to move around more easily and frequently. This is also a golden age for minimalist to move to different part of their country or around the world. Thanks to easy and affordable transportation as well as AirBnB and similar businesses that offer fully furnished apartments and houses for a long-term contract, minimalist like me can pack all personal belongings in one suitcase or travel bag and be on the road in very short notice. Personally, I don’t enjoy moving so frequently, but at a steady pace I can manage moving around and I feel so liberated (even though the downside during this process could be a feeling of loneliness and lack of belonging, I think that’s another topic for another day). Currently, it’s undeniable that I feel free and flexible to choose my next destination without feeling any burden to settle down somewhere I don’t like.
Cruising on my bicycle on a beautiful day!
4. Inspiration to live as an example:
Lastly, one important reason I continue to live as a minimalist is that I want to set an example for this lifestyle. I hope to introduce friends and family to see the benefits that I receive physically, mentally and financially with this lifestyle. I hope to be a member of the minimalist tribe who continues to encourage, cheer each other on for the choice. This choice, I believe, benefit each of us first but as a community as a whole as well. With a small reduction in consuming of food, clothes or anything, we contribute to preserve natural resources and the environment. I hope more and more people start to practice minimalism and continue regardless of how much money or opportunity we may have to spend and acquire material things.
Last but not least, I want to mention that there is no strict definition of Minimalism and there is no right or wrong way of practicing it. I believe this choice encourages us to be more aware, more conscious of our daily decisions, which add up to our lifestyle and overall energy level. This is not a practice that despises materialistic things in life. Contrary to this belief, I think I become more grateful of the items I own and I do allow myself to spend more on things I consider adding value to my life. I could really go on talking about this but I think I have presented my reasons clearly enough. If you are still interested, please drop me a comment and I would be happy to share more.
I am thanking to know and join this Minimalist community and hope to learn more from everyone this coming year.
I would like to invite 2 friends to join this contest @sunnyvo since you have been practicing minimalism and @vivianne since I know how many books you need to ship haha. If the invite is too late, please share with me a bit about your view, if any, on these 2 topics.
Thanks for reading my post! Wish you all the BEST for 2022!
Be SIMPLE and be JOYFUL!
With love!