How much of your mortgage is actually for you… your physical life, your body, your daily living… and how much is just rent for your stuff?
I’d never seen this question before.
Not in any financial planning guide I’d read.
I answered it.
What I realized changed my choices and had an almost immediate impact on my freedom to pursue the vocation that mattered most to me: helping people find clarity under pressure… to live a life of joy and peace of mind, free from society’s compulsions.
↳ Most of us aren’t spending money to live. We’re paying to store a version of ourselves, often one we no longer are.
This isn’t just true of houses.
It’s true of roles. Of careers. Of obligations. Of identities we keep financing long after they’ve stopped serving life.
Pause and ask yourself:
→ What part of my life am I still paying for, but no longer inhabiting?
There’s real relief when the load redistributes… because you finally stop carrying what’s unnecessary for living.
© 2026 Zaheer Merali.
