Minimalists posses a mind that is structured to cope with uncertainty.
Today we all live with high levels of uncertainty that clog our minds with fear [see photo].
I recall on one of my early trips to Paris as a young man. It was 3am in the morning and I was strolling around the back streets of the red light district trying to establish a shortcut back to my quaint little french hotel. As I walked I began to feel alone and vulnerable to whatever was out there lurking in the dark. A sudden fear of the unknown sprang up inside of me. Ahead lay a T-junction and very soon I would have to choose which way to go. At that moment I conceded to myself that I was lost. I was lost, alone, and afraid.
I heard footsteps approaching from the cross street ahead. These people were coming to the same intersection that I must negotiate. Did these unseen folk mean to harm me? What could I do to prepare for any pending attack upon me? I slipped my right hand into my pants pocket and got out my doors keys. I made sure that the strongest key was protruding as my weapon between a tightly formed fist on my right side. I was shaking. Around the corner came two gendarmes who were casually chatting to each other without a care in the world. The fear in me drained away. Certainty returned to my decision-making process.
Minimalists have a mindful structure that enables them to screen out the noise in the environment you live in which creates uncertainty and a sense of chaos. This mindset has three legs: thoughts, habits, and beliefs. Outside these three legs lies "the collective" and the expansive set of wants that comes with them, their ideology, theology, and "group think". These collective wants form a complex web of uncertainty, ambiguity, and chaos.
Richard.
Become a minimalist and you will be largely impervious to uncertainty and chaos.
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