If you want to suffer less, do this. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Miserable people have one thing in common.

That's what today's essay is about.

Then: a new podcast episode about erasing the stories that hold us back.

Miserable People

Joshua Fields Millburn

Miserable people have trouble letting go.

For the longest time, I thought certain people couldn't let go because of their miserable temperament. But I got the correlation backward: most people are miserable because of their clinging.

Be it anger, disappointment, sadness, or envy, so much of our suffering is a byproduct of prolonged attachment.

We cling to how a former friend treated us.
We cling to the way things should have turned out.
We cling to an opportunity we lost.
We cling to a craving for someone else’s belongings.

And then we wonder why we feel so heavy.

Of course, letting go doesn’t mean we stop feeling. Pain is part of being human. But suffering grows and happiness dissipates when we insist on carrying yesterday into today.

Misery is simply a side effect of holding on too long.

If you want to suffer less, carry less of today into tomorrow.

–JFM

P.S. Learn 12 practical ways to let go__: listen to my new audiobook, Very, Very Simple_, on_ audible.

THE MINIMALISTS PODCAST

"A bookshelf is cluttered only when its books no longer serve the reader."

Read 3 new maxims in the show notes

EP. 552 | STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES

This week, we speak with Conner Habib about erasing the stories that hold us back, esotericism, heirlooms, and more. Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or Patreon.