When you are someone who is living an alternative lifestyle (whether it is one of minimalism or not), there are many times during your life when you will look at yourself in the mirror and ask “Am I a fool?” I don’t care how steadfast you are in your beliefs; being that your life is not the established norm, you will have pressure that brings on doubt. This is just part of being human, and it is extremely healthy. Doubt is part of growth. It would in fact be strange if you never had any doubt. Only a fool is sure of anything. A wise person will keep on re-evaluating and examining.
When you are having these moments of “self-examination” it is important not to look to other people’s lives as a basis to compare your life against. When you do that you acquiesce to someone else’s life as being the ideal life for you, and that is just ridiculous. The ideal life is wildly different for one person than another person. Instead, just decide internally what you need or desire in your life, and pursue the resources needed to acquire what is needed/desired. Don’t get me wrong. I am a firm believer in looking to others for inspiration, and ideas. But to put any one persons life in the category of “the way it’s supposed to be” is absurd.
Many of life’s seemingly basic “staples” are not necessarily for everyone. Here is a list of some these lifestyle staples that I am talking about:
- Marriage
- Children
- House
- Monogamy
- College education
- Religion
- Sex
- Television
- Internet (this one was real difficult for me to type)