I’m going to…..
With a new year, we sometimes get these big ideas that “I’m finally going to ______”. Often, one of those things we decide to do is organize our life or one of our living spaces. We see it even in the stores. They capitalize on everyone’s fresh start and big ideas (whether they follow through or not) for the year. Go into any store and you’ll see displays of totes and other organizing tools.
I’m decluttering.
Well, I admit, one of the things I’m working on this year is finally going through some of the items in my house that I need to part with. Let’s be honest – it’s clutter and baggage. As a family of 9, it takes no time at all to accumulate stuff. We’ve only been back in the USA for 5 years and we came back with almost nothing. Now, we have a home with 5 bedrooms packed wall to wall with people and their things. It amazes me how quickly it happens.
One of the ways I’m tackling this is by keeping track of the number of things I get rid of. Some of it gets thrown away or recycled, but most of it gets passed on to someone else who could use it or it gets donated somewhere. In the past 2 days, I have purged over 200 items. I’m counting every magazine, every piece of clothing…..everything that I have to make a decision on.
What a feeling!
It feels really good to get rid of it and know that it’s gone! Not that it’s necessarily bad stuff. I just don’t need it anymore (or for a few things possibly never did???) It’s freeing to let it go!
Sometimes the extra things can weigh us down. You even feel it if you go into a cluttered room, for instance. There’s a difference when it’s gone. It’s hard to explain, but it just feels so freeing.
So, as I work on going through my garage, storage room and old home school supplies, I can’t help but smile and think of how good it feels to not have that extra stuff to deal with. Let’s face it – it takes our time, our space, our money, our peace, etc.
My goal this month is purging 100 things a day.
That sounds like a lot. (Ok, I guess it is a lot.) It adds up fast though. Even just purging a closet of outgrown or no-longer-worn clothes adds up quickly. Besides having more space and less things to deal with and take care of, you get the added blessing of knowing you can help someone else out who may be needing that item.
Of course there’s an application to this little story…
What is cluttering your life?
What is it that you need to purge from your life to help you have more peace and contentment?
Is there something that will give you a feeling of freedom once it’s gone?
What area of your life do you need to “declutter”?
- What is the ONE thing you know you could do right now that would help you to live a more congruent life — truly living out your values? Have you been putting it off?
- What do you need to do to make that happen?
- What will it take for you to commit to it?
- What is it costing you to keep living with it?
- What will it cost to release it?
- If you don’t, what will life be like?
- But what if you do? What will life be like then? How will you be living differently?
- And finally, how will you know when you get there? How will you know that you’ve reached that goal?
