Minimalism and Delayed Gratification

Minimalism and Delayed Gratification
 
Minimalism speaks of living a simpler, more focused life. Do you ever consider the difference in having it right now, or waiting for a bigger thing later on?

The ability to delay an impulse for an immediate reward to receive a more favorable reward at a later time is the standard definition of delayed gratification. Studies have shown that the ability to delay reward is not easy but has great rewards for those who can learn to do it.
The ability to self-regulate and show control will directly impact the outcomes of all your future plans. In a culture surrounded by messages saying that you can lose the discomfort right now, the ability to wait for a long-term reward is less attractive and few are willing to wait.

Delayed gratification is a muscle we can all grow to serve our future selves. Sometimes discomfort is the more beneficial choice.

Today we are living in a time when people want things, and they want them now.   Patience has almost began to be a thing of the past. Christians sometimes forget that we are commanded to wait on the Lord.
 
(Pro 20:21)  An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
(Pro 20:22)  Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
 
(Psa 27:13)  I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
(Psa 27:14)  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
 
And the bible tells us we can manually acquire patience, but it comes from a tough source.

(Rom 5:3)  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
(Rom 5:4)  And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
(Rom 5:5)  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
 
So verse 3 says we can acquire patience, but it comes via tribulations.  I think it best to learn a little patience without having to go through the tough times.

I am sure you have friends who got married and expected in their first year of marriage to have a lifestyle better than their parents.   It may have taken the parents a lifetime to acquire their home and possessions.    But the newlywed couple immediately want a large home and two cars.   And with credit so easy to obtain, many buy houses that cost over 30% of their take-home pay, putting a crunch on their finances.     

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