Mindful choices.

I have this rich kid as a friend, and visiting her was one of the things that made me consider having too many possessions as unnecessary. She lives with her parents, and her bedroom is bigger than my parents' parlor and dining room combined.

She has a big wardrobe filled with clothes, bags, shoes, perfumes, and so many other things. I really admired her stuff, but they were somehow unnecessary to me. I do not express my feelings about things like that because it sounds more like jealousy, while some think you are bitter, thinking you say those things because you don't have what they have.

While I was there, we always had somewhere to go just for fun, and she's always disturbing me by helping her pick an outfit. She spends so much time on choosing the slippers or sneakers that fit, and picking a bag is another issue. We waste a lot of time preparing, and it bores me a lot because I don't bother myself too much about what to wear when going out.

I can browse through my entire wardrobe in less than 10 minutes, so there is no room for time wasting around me, and yet, I always appear gorgeous whether in a work or celebration outfit.

Having fewer possessions helps save time in many ways, and my friend is a perfect example; having to always struggle with choice of outfit might one day drive me crazy.

I find time very precious because once it's gone, we can't retrieve it anymore, so I don't have any reason to waste it. If there is a way I can trim down my possessions further, I know that I am getting more time for myself in many ways. Cleaning my house, doing my laundry, picking my outfit, and other things I will do at home wouldn't be as time-demanding as they are.

Less time with those things means more time to meditate, exercise, have fun, do other things I love, and improve my relationship with the genuine people, and all of these add value to me.

Every time I think about the future, I plan to live with less, not only with material things. My husband and a maximum of two kids is all I have always wished for to make life a lot more beautiful for me.

Doing excessive numbers with kids takes a lot of time from women. I see stories today of women talking about trading their lives for family goals or dreams, which I don't want. I want to have the best of life with my family, and it would be much better if I kept the number lower.

While I am doing my duties as a wife, I can be a mother and also myself, but with excessive numbers, it probably might not work. Away from material things, living with less as a family would create more time for me to create memories, have fun, and form an unbreakable bond in my family.