Maturity Is Learning To Subtract
The society we live in has generated false needs that encourage us to achieve certain goals in order to achieve the security and well-being that they promise us. These needs lead to the desire to add what we already have, which becomes a synonym for happiness, when the well-being we are really eager for lies in understanding that maturity is learning to draw from.
We do not realize that this longing to add makes our lives much more complicated, difficult and even unbearable. It makes us stress, and it seems like we do not have enough time, when in reality it is not true. What happens is that we fill our lives with things instead of filling our souls, which makes us feel empty.
Maturity is learning to subtract
In a world where adding is seen as a good thing, where the accumulation of useless things is representative of wealth, and where having more friends means presenting a better picture, is learning to draw from an act of rebellion. This will put us to the test, as we will go against the worldview that most people have, which is quite a challenge.
When we do not show the behavior that society expects of us, the behavior that the majority of society repeats without being aware of it, that is when the critics appear. These are the people who judge our value and continually evaluate the way we act to lead us back to socially acceptable behavior. Going back to believing that adding is important.
That place, the origin of many of our fears and uncertainties, is where we begin to add layers and even more layers in an attempt to add. But perhaps beneath that happiness with your partner lies a great fear of being abandoned; beneath that gratitude for having so many friends, perhaps lies a deep fear of being alone.
How many times have we applied for approval from others? How often have we stopped prioritizing ourselves because we focused on the people around us? As a result, we project an image of a mature person who is responsible and surrounded by others. But at the same time, this has a price: the inability to learn to subtract and let go.
The liberation of embracing simplicity
Learning to subtract is very important in order to stop adding useless things to our lives, many of which only give us pain. Get rid of friends who are only interested in themselves, leave relationships with people who do not really love us, and stop buying things that just fill gaps and add to our emotional emptiness.
When we are able to see that the happiness we seek by always adding to our lives is an air mirror, then we are prepared to change the perspective we have had about the world until now. We will realize what we do not need, what is left over, what is holding us back. We want to know how to say “goodbye”.
On many occasions we see how people with a lot of money feel empty or unhappy. We can also see that the people who have many friends are alone in difficult times and… what about those who brag about their romantic relationship but always look for someone who can really make them feel something?
Finally, finding refuge in the false security that comes with adding to our lives causes us to cling to these things and pretend to be comfortable with a situation that does nothing but create unrest in our lives. A turmoil that encourages us to let go, to let go of complexity, and that ultimately hurts us.
To learn to subtract is not only to strip ourselves of everything that takes up unnecessary space, but also to learn to restore the balance that will govern our lives. A balance that makes us feel good and happy. But this is only possible if we stop holding on to the complex and start embracing the simple.
