How detached are you from material goods and pleasures?

[BCRanger10]

How detached are you from material goods and pleasures?

Meaning how much do you allow food, drink, love, money, entertainment, and other such things to influence your daily life and decision-making? Do your desires for these things control you or do you control them? How would you do either without these things or in limited portions?

What is your motivation for being detached from them?

[The_Shadow_Dweller]

I am using a roughly 100 USD smartphone. I only use it for hotspot purpose. And I can afford a smartphone upto 600 to 700 USD as per my dad. Same case is with my laptop too.
This says that, I use only the required amount of material good, not excessively expensive. Just the appropriate.

For the things you mentioned, apart from money, all the other things are optional. Because I understand that all the things are interdependent with money on the top, and discipline along with knowledge being above the money, only money is important for me from the list you have given me.

Love factor is something that comes after everything. I simply cannot afford to invest my energy and time on it. Right now.

My motivation is those people who had come to us asking for money in COVID and we had not given them. I don't know the exact reason for that.

That was the time I decided to value money more than anything else, of course first are parents. To respect money by utilising everything I have invested my parents money in. Be it Udemy courses, or the college or anything. Or even stock market.

You respect money, money respects you.
Do not make enemies, if you are not able to make friends. I believe in these two things.

Also I strive to earn the most valuable currency in the world, loyalty. This requires me to not depend on all of these material things.
Many people say that I am really dependable, that I am someone they can count on when they need help. But I don't know myself about that.😅 I would say that

I think that I am 50/50 here. I am driven by the fear of money and ultimately by discipline and knowledge but at the same time strive to be loyal and dependable for my friends and family.

[Andres77]

I'm a bibliophile. I had actually started hoarding books. Wife was fed up. My "office" had become a book repository. When I cleaned it up and after reviewing every single book I delivered 30 bags of books to the used book store.
I have three bookcases full (jam packed) y three footlockers full in my shed.
I'm kinda stuck still.
Tornadoes and housefires are a possibility... always. I know some friends that have had to deal with those tragedies. Starting all over, years of memories blown or burnt away.

So... it comes down to the quality of one's daily life. So we're moving more toward "minimalism". The mindset is helping not be a prisoner to my belongings.

It's a gradual process, one I wish I'd learned long ago.

[Andres77]

There are many sites but this is typical.
www.becomingminimalist.com/what-is-minimalism/

[BCRanger10]

See, I learned a long time ago that buying books and reading books are two completely different hobbies. I have so many books right now that I could buy one today and consider myself a scholar if I even look at the cover again within five years of purchase.

[Andres77]

I do have a nice antique book collection...1717 is my oldest published book.

[BCRanger10]

What book is that?

[Andres77]

The Christian Exercise.
-Thomas a. Kempis
Second Edition, 1717
Published in London at St Paul's Church Yard

[Andres77]

Full of a bunch of annexes too

[BCRanger10]

Neat. I'm reading his Imitation of Christ right now, as part of the catechesis apostolate that I'm a member of.

How was it from 1717 though? He died in the 15th century. 1717 edition or republication maybe?

[Andres77]

Second edition, just 150 years later I guess

[Andres77]

Or more.. Sunday math...🙄

[BCRanger10]

I'm going to finish IOC first, then read St. Francis de Sales' Intro to the Devout Life. After that, I'll have to check out The Christian Exercise.

[Andres77]

I'm afraid to open it past the copyright page or I'd have already read it

[BCRanger10]

Why?

[Andres77]

I'm afraid I'll damage it

[Blackcosmo]

I'm not a materialistic person. I always try to remember those who have nothing if I feel like I want a little more. I love eating and drinking but I try not to consume more than I need to because there are people who don't have anything to eat and they don't even have clean water. I value money very highly because of the things it can help with like making the world a better place by helping the needy but I don't see the need for spending so much money on things you don't really need when you can do so many more important things. Of course you can treat yourself once in awhile but not the way some people do.

[BCRanger10]

That's a good way to live.

[Blackcosmo]

Thanks for the MHO!

[TrueConfection]

I don't think of love as being in the same category as the rest, so aside from love I don't get attached to things. When I was 15, my friend's house burned to the ground and I learned from that never to get attached to material things. I still find pleasure in having certain luxuries, but I wouldn't shed a tear if I lost them.

[BCRanger10]

Wow. Did they recover okay?

As for love, I originally put sex. I probably should have left it as it was.

[TrueConfection]

Yes, they recovered in a mobile home until they could afford another house. It was traumatic at the time, but that was the lesson we (their friends and family) all took away.

[NathanDavis]

I am not detached from them, I am just not driven by them...

and it is just part of my character and it comes naturally, been always like that, pretty much

if I'll indulge, it will be on good times with people, and that comes from sharing with others rather than being self serving

[exitseven]

Just a wee bit. I like central heat, a big pickup truck, a 75 inch TV and lots of toys. I am not into excesses however. Lambourghinis do not impress me. Neither do $1200 iPhones.

[Anonymous]

I can just say I'd be a terrible Buddhist or an antithesis to that

[SixFootSexy]

I like pizza and hot showers.

[Creampiekarl420]

Alcohol is the only thing keeping me going

[Ramira_Ortiz]

Depends on the goods