{"id":119,"date":"2013-08-02T07:42:02","date_gmt":"2013-08-02T11:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119"},"modified":"2014-03-06T10:19:55","modified_gmt":"2014-03-06T15:19:55","slug":"too-much-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119","title":{"rendered":"TOO MUCH STUFF"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-441\" alt=\"Chill Out\" src=\"http:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Chill-Out-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"474\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Chill-Out-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Chill-Out-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/>Our fascination with<i> stuff<\/i> is not the problem. It is the lifestyle that we must pursue to acquire, maintain and manage our <i>stuff<\/i>.\u00a0 All of this <i>stuff<\/i> is the antithesis to a sane, balanced and purposeful life. While we tend to believe that our happiness emanates from our possessions it is, in fact, these same possessions that become the bane and curse to a joyful and meaningful life.<\/p>\n<p>According to Elaine St. James, <i>Wise men and women in every major culture throughout history have found that the secret to happiness is not in getting more but in wanting less.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Only when we make it our Purpose to not make<i> stuff <\/i>the measure of our contentment, will we truly understand how simply beautiful (and beautifully simple) life can be lived.<\/p>\n<p>Thinking and living simply is not a character flaw, a weakness of drive and ambition; rather, it is vigorous, inspiring, courageous and reflective of our conviction of Purpose. Life and happiness is not made from <i>stuff<\/i>; it is a state of mind, made from the interwoven fabric of purposeful attitudes and the belief that life, in itself and by itself, is sufficient and plentiful. Our most meaningful rewards in life will always be the simplest ones.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" id=\"sharing-facebook-119\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=twitter\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\" id=\"sharing-twitter-119\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=linkedin\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\" id=\"sharing-linkedin-119\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=pinterest\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span>Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-stumbleupon\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-stumbleupon sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=stumbleupon\" title=\"Click to share on StumbleUpon\"><span>StumbleUpon<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-google-plus-1\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-google-plus-1 sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=google-plus-1\" title=\"Click to share on Google+\" id=\"sharing-google-119\"><span>Google<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=email\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-64841909-119-69e01a0276ac7' data-src='\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/#blog_id=64841909&amp;post_id=119&amp;origin=ourlifepurpose.com&amp;obj_id=64841909-119-69e01a0276ac7' data-name='like-post-frame-64841909-119-69e01a0276ac7'><h3 class='sd-title'>Like this:<\/h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height:55px'><span class='button'><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading...<\/span><\/div><span class='sd-text-color'><\/span><a class='sd-link-color'><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our fascination with stuff is not the problem. It is the lifestyle that we must pursue to acquire, maintain and manage our stuff.\u00a0 All of this stuff is the antithesis to a sane, balanced and purposeful life. While we tend to believe that our happiness emanates from our possessions it is, in fact, these same [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" id=\"sharing-facebook-119\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=twitter\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\" id=\"sharing-twitter-119\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=linkedin\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\" id=\"sharing-linkedin-119\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=pinterest\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span>Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-stumbleupon\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-stumbleupon sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=stumbleupon\" title=\"Click to share on StumbleUpon\"><span>StumbleUpon<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-google-plus-1\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-google-plus-1 sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=google-plus-1\" title=\"Click to share on Google+\" id=\"sharing-google-119\"><span>Google<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/?p=119&amp;share=email\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,15,6,17,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-life-of-values","category-the-commodity-of-time","category-paths-to-happiness","category-rational-thinking","category-the-simpler-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":445,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions\/445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlifepurpose.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}