This is a re-post of an article by time management consultant Harold Taylor. Read the whole thing; especially the last sentence. He speaks of something I have discussed on this blog numerous times: possessing ourselves.
There’s a book called Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin that describes a Fulfillment Curve. This curve plots money or possessions or “stuff” along the x-axis, or horizontal axis, and fulfillment or happiness along the y-axis, the vertical axis. The more money you have to spend, the greater the degree of fulfillment and happiness – up to a point. After fulfillment goes through the survival stage, comforts stage and luxuries stage, it levels off. Then it starts to decrease. Once you have achieved what the authors refer to as enough, acquiring more simply makes you unhappier. It’s interesting to note that Daniel Pink also mentions in his book, A Whole New Mind, that while living standards have risen steadily decade after decade, personal, family and life satisfaction haven’t budged.
Material things consume a lot of our time. People spend their precious non-renewable resource, time, in order to acquire more money and possessions, only to discover that the possessions do little to further their enjoyment of life. In fact, possessions consume even more of this non-renewable resource. Not only does it take time to earn enough money to buy this stuff, it takes time to shop for it, learn how to operate it, maintain it in good working condition, repair it, upgrade it, insure it and use it. If we have to rent public storage, we have to sign a contract, pay rent, buy a lock, take trips back and forth to check on it or add to it, and so on. We are afraid of losing it, breaking it or having it stolen. We frequently have to make payments on it, acquire more space to accommodate it, and worry about keeping the neighborhood kids or the family dog away from it. There also comes a time when we have to figure out how to get rid of it.
From the viewpoint of cost, stress and time management, you should simplify your life as much as possible. Simplifying your personal life involves freeing up more time and energy to pursue your personal goals and working on activities that you really enjoy. Getting rid of the possessions that threaten to possess you is a good place to start.
Journey Into God 