Mindful Consumption

Written By Colēgia

We all participate in our environment in some shape or fashion. It could be our impact on the digital landscapes we engage in such as social media or it could be the physical space around us. We consume a wide variety of things which is all the more reason why we need to consider how we can be more mindful about it.

It Starts With Awareness

Have you ever taken time to sit down and truly ask yourself all of the things you consume on a daily basis? Chances are it's a lot more than we might think. It helps immensely to practice awareness since it can give us the information necessary to cut down on some of the things we consume. One example of this can be food. Some of the food we eat isn't necessarily good for our well-being. Examples of this include both fast food and things with a lot of sugar in them. It's safe to say that we can still live a healthy and happy life without those things in our diet. We might not realize how much of our diet consists of these things but a bit of awareness can make it very clear what we need to change.

“Have you ever taken time to sit down and truly ask yourself all of the things you consume on a daily basis?”

Why Do We Own Certain Things?

Another exercise we can do to promote mindful consumption is to look at our room and see what's in it. Next do the same thing for your closet as well. Chances are that there are a good amount of things we may have forgotten that we own. Not everything needs to be used 24/7 but we need to ask ourselves why we own things if we so rarely use them. Sometimes it's because of our emotional attachment to them or it could just be because of practical reasons but we just need a place to store them. Not feeling weighed down by the things we own is important because our things should empower us in some fashion. One way to look at consumption is by asking ourselves what sort of value our possessions provide. Some things might only be useful at certain points in our lives while others are more evergreen in their application.

“Not everything needs to be used 24/7 but we need to ask ourselves why we own things if we so rarely use them.”

Quality And Value

Quality over quantity is something we want to emphasize given that it helps us declutter with the things we own. With that said, we don't want this to be an excuse for consistently consuming the most expensive things. It needs to be tempered with value as well since there are some things that are quality that don't necessarily cost a lot. That said, it's good to consider the lifespan of an item we get along with the experience of it. A good set of shoes is worth getting over several cheaper ones that break down. The same applies to a good backpack as well since we need to make sure that it's comfortable and will take care of our supplies. Mindful consumption requires us to think about what it is we partake in and in doing so we can feel more empowered in the process.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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