When you drive around Pretoria and Johannesburg [and I’m sure other parts of the country], you will see storage facilities mushrooming.

This basically means that our houses and garages are full to a point where we need extra space to store our things.

We have ran out of space in our homes. We need more space.

Instead of saying we need to stop buying more stuff, we rather get extra space.

The accumulation of stuff has resulted in a growing storage industry.

Marketers and advertisers promise us that their newest shinier trinket will lead to a better life.

But for the most part, we regret the purchase in the long run. The things we buy may provide a short hit of happiness, but that happiness fades quickly.

I doubt that our greatest dream in life is to own a house full of stuff we don’t use.

Nobody, sitting across the table from you drinking a cup of coffee, would ever say that their greatest goal in life is to own a house full of boxes crammed into closets and cabinets.

We are distracted.

We are distracted by social media and FOMO, and we are now we are distracted by lots and lots of stuff we are buying.

We have ran out of space to think, to meditate and reflect.

We are distracted to a point where we have forgotten to be humane.

Mark Twain once said:

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

I like to add a third:

“The day you remove everything that distracts you from that purpose.”

Your greatest dream in life is not to own a house full of stuff. Live for something greater.

We don’t need more stuff, we need more humanity.