Letting Go of Stuff

I have a favorite t-shirt that I have worn out. It says, “Less is more. Less is more. Less is more. More, please.” Letting go of stuff is never easy.

I’m embarrassed to say that photo above is my sewing room. I’m not sewing at the moment and it’s so easy to throw stuff in there and just shut the door. Can you relate?

We accumulate so much stuff that we really don’t need, don’t we? Our houses are full. Our workdays are full and our plates are full. Yet, why do we feel so empty and unfulfilled sometimes?

How many sets of dishes do you actually use in a week? How many books do you need to accumulate? Blankets, toys, sweaters, sewing notions, religious items, shoes, clothes, Christmas decorations. — I’ve listed just some of mine.

Now if you can remember to put things back where they belong when you are done, that’s great. But sometimes that’s part of the problem, too, when we don’t keep things neat and tidy, we tend to feel like we are part of the mess.

Keeping a clean house helps you to feel that life isn’t so chaotic. There’s nothing worse than having a bad day at work, and coming home to a messy house with screaming kids, am I right? Even though, my kids are grown, I remember those days. And now my own children are experiencing the chaos.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. 20But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Matthew 6:19-21

One of my rules of thought is if I haven’t even TOUCHED something in two years, it needs to go. Now, I’ve applied that to a lot of stuff in my house, but there are some things like fabric for sewing projects, tax returns and important papers that it doesn’t apply to. Letting go of stuff is never easy.

Why do I have ‘junk drawers’ in my home? I probably have 4 or 5 drawers with stuff that I just didn’t know what to do with so I shoved them in there. How many pens does a person need? I know we hate to just throw things away but we can recycle or give things a new home. Try to keep as many things as you can out of the dumpster, by not bringing things into your home in the first place.

I read a book on the life of Mahatma Gandhi. When he died, he had 7 possessions to his name. 7. What 7 items would you choose, if you had to choose?

Action Steps and Challenge

I have a challenge for you (and me) this week. Take a couple of grocery bags and just walk through one room of your house. Each day of the week, pick a different room. Look about the room you are in. Pick out 10 items that are just sitting around that you don’t really need. Put them in the grocery bag, if they fit, or in the center of the room until you are done with this exercise.

Tomorrow, pick another 10 items from a different room. The idea is to slowly get rid of things that you don’t really need or use. If I’m honest, I have a whole house full of unnecessary stuff.

When you have all of your items from your rooms, donate them to some worthy cause or have a garage sale and donate the proceeds to an organization that could use the money.

Before you buy something new, think about it. Do you really need it? Is this just an impulse buy? Is it something you are buying to replace something else? Will it last? Sometimes we buy stuff out of boredom or to make us feel good. –That is a whole other problem! lol.

You will be surprised once you start eliminating things, how peaceful an uncluttered space becomes. And doesn’t it feel good to have a clean home? Isn’t it funny how we clean before every party or whenever we invite others into our homes? Some of us don’t invite others because we feel our homes are too much of a mess.–Stop the insanity!

Once we figure out that filling our lives with stuff doesn’t really make us happy, we can focus on what does. And that is relationships with friends and loved ones.

So if you are reading this and you live in my area, send me an email, a text or phone call. Let’s get together. I’ve got some stuff you might want! lol.

I appreciate you. God bless.–Barb