The word “luxury” has been popping up over the past few weeks in some books I have been reading. First, it was about defining what would be luxury for you. Then, it was about allowing yourself the luxury of being yourself.
A New Meaning of Luxury
The traditional definition of luxury seems to be associated with extravagant things like yachts, designer bags, and perhaps things that might seem unattainable from an ordinary life.
I have recently discovered that it can be whatever we want it to be. It’s more like what brings you joy. What makes your heart sing.
Luxury could be a yacht, a tiny home, a manicure, an afternoon nap, or anything you want it to be. It could be getting to do what you want to do with your time.
For me, that last one is it.
I have always known I was meant for more than what I have allowed myself to become. I knew that my purpose was greater than the limited view of success that I allowed myself to fall for.
Getting to be who I want to be, to do what I want to do – that will forever be luxury for me. Allowing myself to be myself, without inferiority or shame or guilt or concern of the opinions of everyone else.
We all have the power to wake up, snap out of it, and realize that we get to decide. To not let fear keep us down forever, and to not fall for the lie that we don’t have a right to be who and what we want.
The luxury of being ourselves is ours to claim. It is so exciting.
Teaching Our Kids Luxury
I am most excited that I am now claiming my right to be the mom I knew I always wanted to be. I get to teach our girls from their current young ages that they can have, do, and be anything they want. That their thoughts create their lives. A concept that I only hoped was true for me for years, only to feel defeated time and again when I stopped believing because I didn’t really know.
Now, I know. I know that I can have, do, and be anything I want. I will never give up on myself or my dreams. And I will share with my girls to never give up. They will know from my example and from their own firsthand experiences that giving up on themselves and their dreams isn’t necessary. That makes me happy.
Now that I am a mom, I think a lot about moms. I think about how much power we have to shape the world. In small and big ways. On the one hand it can feel like an overwhelming, scary, insurmountable task. On the other hand, it is purely a luxurious privilege, to know these truths and to get to share them. To help our kids challenge the lies and know that they are worthy of their own definitions of luxury.
Living in Luxury
Luxury for me is a clean, organized, decluttered, minimal home. It is all my small wardrobe of clothes bringing me joy and fitting comfortably. It is getting the girls to school on time with minimal to no drama. It’s feeling good. It’s having everything done and no stress. It’s getting to do what I want to do with my precious time and honoring my own unique spirit everyday.
Yes, it’s mani-pedis. It’s being the mom I always wanted to be who does yoga with her kids and teaches them to meditate. It’s having a tiny home in the backyard. It’s being the person I always wanted to be. It’s not allowing anyone to tell me who to be or what to do, or what I should or shouldn’t want.
What is luxury for you? You get to decide. The world might constantly be trying to tell us what we should want or aspire to, but when we take some time to stop and think about what it is we really want, we may discover that our unique definition of luxury doesn’t look like the traditional definition. You know better than anyone what your definition of luxury is. You get to claim that.