I used to think that if you want to live a happy life, you must try your best to add, have better materials and have a wide range of contacts.
But when fame and fortune have been gained, but the desire is difficult, it is found that the burden on the shoulders is getting heavier and heavier.
In fact, in the second half of life, you must learn to subtract from life and let go of what you should put down in order to live easily.
As early as 175 years ago, Thoreau, an American writer and philosopher, told us the wisdom of subtraction in his book Walden.
Thoreau came to Walden Lake on the edge of his hometown at sunrise and sunset, away from worldly grievances and troubles. After living alone for two years, he understood that the essence of life is a process of "simplifying the complex".
True freedom can only be enjoyed by "subtracting" some unnecessary things from life.
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Reduce material desires so as not to become a burden.
Haruki Murakami once said: "Anyone who wants more than he needs is greedy. The more greedy he is, the more tired he will be physically and mentally, and it will be difficult to be happy. If you can live a simple life, your heart will not fluctuate with material desires. "
Everyone is running for a better material life, but because material desires are constantly changing and always unsatisfied, life is bound to be more difficult.
Life is short, you only need two or three things, so why be greedy? If you can reduce unnecessary material desires, then life may become different.
1845 One day in March, Thoreau left everything behind and went to Walden alone.
He bid farewell to the big house, bid farewell to the bustling city, and just built a simple hut by the lake as a shelter.
Thoreau no longer looked forward to the material comforts of the past. There is no extra furniture in the room except a bed and a table. Three meals a day are just porridge and vegetables.
On weekdays, he cultivates a few acres of land by the lake, works at sunrise and rests at sunset.
In his spare time, he reads and writes quietly and enjoys a pleasant time alone.
Thoreau reduced his demand for material things and stopped cherishing fame and fortune. When he is free from these burdens, he can enjoy life.
Materialism is a bottomless pit full of discontent. Constant pursuit will only make you fall into it, and life will eventually lose its interest and color.
In a materialistic society, only by returning to nature and being down-to-earth, can the clouds be light and windy.
I have seen an American drama called Confessions of a Shopper.
The heroine Rebecca is a materialist. She thinks that being rich means being richer than others.
So Rebecca used shopping spree to satisfy her material desires. She not only spent all her salary, but also owed a lot of debts, which eventually led to her suffering from severe depression.
Too much material desire, instead of giving her material enjoyment, has become a burden.
There is a saying: "for a person, the pursuit of material things has no real meaning." Subtracting it is to subtract the burden in life. "
The abundance of life never makes you happy because you have more, but makes you live more exquisitely because you have less.
Everyone's basic needs are not complicated. No matter how good things are, they can't provide convenience for life. They are all adding burdens to life.
People who live fully know how to reduce material desires, not pursue property excessively, cut off redundant waste and simply live.
When you learn to simplify your life and have less and less material requirements, you can feel real happiness.
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Only by reducing obsession can we be as comfortable as possible.
There are many kinds of troubles. If you don't stick to me, there will be no trouble. If you insist on taking me as the root, you will have trouble.
The root of Qian Qian's absolute sadness in life can never be separated from the word "obsession".
Once a person has an obsession, he will cling to the past and feel sad and painful for all kinds of regrets.
Thoreau was at a low point in his life before going to Walden Lake, and everything was not satisfactory.
He works in a magazine and writes painstakingly, but no one appreciates him. He is treated unfairly every day and can only live in pain.
An accident, he fell in love with a girl, but his brother also liked her. In order not to break up his family, he chose silence and escape.
During that time, Thoreau felt ill-fated and complained about why God treated him like this. As a result, he was often depressed and unhappy, which led to his serious illness.
During the period of struggling with the disease, he suddenly realized that since some things can't be forced, he might as well try to put them down and say goodbye to those people and things that can't be obtained.
After recovering from a serious illness, he decided to get close to nature and return to simplicity, so he gave up everything and came to Walden Lake to live in seclusion.
Unexpectedly, when he stopped clinging to what he lost and couldn't get, and faced the present, life suddenly became wonderful and his troubles naturally disappeared.
Thoreau cleared his mind of obsession and saw many things clearly. On the contrary, he is broad-minded and can embrace the world to the fullest.
There is a saying in Lin Qingxuan: "The only way to enjoy happiness is to keep your own small world, wash your mind, let go of your obsession and take your time."
In life, it is normal to be responsive and constantly regret.
If you keep them in your heart and struggle, the heavier your obsession, the deeper your injury.
The more sand you hold in your hand, the more painful you will be. Might as well lift it.
Many times, I am trapped by obsession and scarred. It's better to clear up the past and let love and hate be spontaneous.
Know how to reduce your obsession and reconcile with yourself, so that you can feel at ease.
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Only by reducing social interaction can we reduce consumption.
Li Ka-shing once said, "When you are not strong enough and excellent enough, don't spend too much time socializing and attending various parties. You should spend more time reading and improving yourself, and your world will become bigger. "
Sometimes, we blindly plunge into the crowd, thinking that we can reduce loneliness and strive for more human resources.
However, too much social interaction needs to invest a lot of time, money and energy to maintain, but also disguise yourself and deliberately please others.
Paying such a huge social cost, what you get most in the end is an invalid relationship, which is not good for yourself and will only be consumed continuously.
When Thoreau was young, like many people, he was active in social circles. In order to fit in, he always caters to others, disguises himself and tries to win more connections.
Thoreau will also carefully choose gifts and visit in person on holidays to maintain their relationship.
When getting along with others, Thoreau was always afraid of accidentally making others unhappy.
Thoreau thought he was thoughtful, and everyone had long regarded him as their best friend. But when his family met with difficulties and needed money badly, he borrowed money from his circle of friends, but few people were willing to help him.
Thoreau suddenly realized that when you are weak, it is useless to know anyone, and many social activities are ineffective.
Later, Thoreau lived in seclusion in Walden Lake. Instead of racking his brains to communicate with others, he concentrated on writing and lived a beautiful life. When he didn't waste time in social occasions, he left more time alone to increase the connotation, only to find that life could have been so colorful.
Because you don't need unnecessary politeness and pandering to maintain the relationship, and you don't need to spend precious time and energy on unnecessary socialization to live a pure life.
Yu Hua wrote in Calling in the Drizzle: "I stopped pretending to have many friends, but returned to loneliness and started a lonely life with the real me.
The biggest illusion in life is that there are many friends, thinking that the wider the network, the more you eat.
However, the real meaning of living is never who you know, but who you are.
Instead of wasting too much time and energy on ineffective social interaction, why not invest in yourself and make yourself better?
Many times, when a person's heart is rich enough, the world will be gentle to you.
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Joshua said in minimalism: "Finding the life we want does not mean keeping everything. On the contrary, when we reduce the number of items we have to an appropriate level, we can be liberated from trivial daily life. "
For the rest of my life, learning to subtract from life and giving up voluntarily is the true love for myself.
Only by reducing unnecessary material desires and knowing how to simplify the complex can we relax.
Only by reducing too much obsession and knowing how to reconcile with yourself can we enjoy life.
Only by reducing ineffective social interaction and leaving room for yourself can we improve ourselves.
Life is like a boat, you and I are both boatmen. Carrying too much will only make the journey of life heavier.
Life, the simpler the more advanced, when you can unload all kinds of burdens, you can go into battle lightly.