Our lives comprise of too much future, too much past and not enough present.
We regret, resent or grieve about our past. We worry, fear and imagine our future. We just sail through the present, neither enjoying it nor living it mindfully. Our minds are busy mulling over the past & fussing over the future.
How good or bad is it to let ‘save for future’, reach into various domains in our lives?
Should we save ‘valuable stuff’ for future use or should we enjoy such things ‘right now’? Here are some insights that can help you decide what to save, how to consume and what not to save:
Save money: Money spent once can’t be reused. Money is a cushion for the future. Money saved or invested gets you an interest which helps you be prepared for inflation, retirement, and weak economic status.
Saving money is a virtue we must all have but the ‘frugality obsession’ could also ruin the present. Don’t fret over ‘saving’ by availing every discount, or using every promotion code. It will help more if we can refrain from buying what we want and only buy what we need.
Define valuable things: Apart from money saved in various forms, we own many other valuable things, this includes material and non-material stuff. We have jewellery, clothes, shoes, accessories, food, perfumes as well as many ideas, web content that we save to be used later.
We stock up jewellery to be used on select occasions, we preserve shoes and clothes to be worn on some special day. We store crockery, bath linen, furnishings for years waiting for special occasions and special people.
Do you think that these things will lose their charm, their value if they are used more often? We want to save these thingsbecause we love their newness. We want to save these things for future because we feel that the present is not good enough. We find present to be ordinary.
Can’t jewellery worn today be worn tomorrow? Can’t shoes, perfumes, clothes used today be used again and again? Of course, they can be and they should be. People who lack the confidence to wear the same stuff again and again, want something new to show each time.
Show a new idea, create a new version: share tell a new thought, rather than worrying about new clothes, jewellery and accessories to be worn each time. Use your best stuff today and tomorrow. Each day is as special as our mood drives it to be.
I wear clothes based on my mood and not based on the occasion. I would love to look my best at my workplace, and I will not hesitate from wearing my best formal attire, best formal shoes and my best perfume.
Use your material stuff and keep yourself happy: There are few special occasions for which you need to preserve all your best belongings. Don’t underestimate the present by using mundane stuff in anticipation of a valuable stuff worthy future. Good things should be used again and again just like we need good thoughts, good company, and good ideas every day.
Don’t postpone what you can do better today: I was in Venetian Resort, Macau recently and I witnessed many amazing short shows going on in lobbies of different hotels. During one of the shows, it suddenly hit me. There were more than 500 people in the lobby who had circled the centre to watch the show. Each one of them was busy recording the show on their smartphones. Rather than enjoying the beautiful show live, they were all busy recording it, to watch later or to show others.
When we don’t have mindfulness to enjoy the show today, will we get time to watch it later? Why save it for future when you will enjoy it more right now?
Is living, experiencing the moment out of fashion? We never see the photographs, selfies, and videos of a vacation after returning because we never get the time. We just feel satisfied that we have it. Wanting something is more charming than having it. Once you have it, it loses its charm. Live the moment, bask in the beauty of a show, a sunrise, a moment and don’t waste it by saving it rather than living it.
Don’t save if it leads to procrastination: There are innumerable apps which allow us to save web content, online so that we can read it later. Since we know that we can read it later, we waste our time doing a lot of irrelevant things. It gives us an unnecessary sense of being busy and creates a false need for saving online stuff. Either read it or leave it. It is not very uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living, says Eckhart Tolle.
Saving and the art of minimalism: Since we know that we can save something for future use, we buy lot of stuff which is not needed. Our wardrobes are full, our kitchen cabinets are overflowing, our hard discs are cluttered because we want everything in our possession.
Let us practise minimalism so that we can lead organised, uncluttered lives. Buy a new accessory, dress or furnishing when you are ready to give away a similar one.
Learn to live light, travel light and eat light. A possession less attitude will lead us to have what we need but not what we want or lust for.