Tuesday, August 9, 2011

You ready for this....

I wanted to add to my previous post about letting things go.

I once walked into a ladies home that I was to take care of.  She had so much stuff everywhere.  She said, "my kids told me I need to get rid of this stuff because they don't want to have to throw it away."  Later that year I met her daughter, who collected dog things, stuffies, porcelain figures, etc....  I looked at her and said, "have you started getting rid of all your collectibles?" 
"No why would I do that?" her daughter asked.
"Because your kids don't want it, so they are just going to throw them away.  Wouldn't it make sense now to just sell them and put the money into college or a trust fund for them.  Or even a rainy day fund and when they get older be able to take everyone on a vacation." 
She looked at me and frowned, "I like them, I like them in my house."
"When was the last time you dusted them?  Soon, your house will look like your daughters and in 20-30-40 years your children will be coming to you to throw out your stuff."
She paused, "I never thought of it that way."
"It may be an antique and could be worth 100s of dollars but if the children don't see the value in it because they think it's ugly, when you die it might just get thrown out and your reason for saving it, 'someday it will be worth a lot of money' is now lost."

I have decorative pieces I like, I will keep them a few more years.  I will get rid of things I really haven't seen in five years that are in bins that I need to say goodbye to. 

Letting go of tangible items isn't about giving EVERYTHING up.  I mean you still want to decorate your home and have nice things up and that is fine.  In fact I encourage it, you have to make a home yours, but when there is so much stuff that you look cluttered and no one has the time to appreciate any of it, what is the point. 

If you can sell anything and create a savings account or trust fund for your kids, you should.  Trust me EVERY child will appreciate money more than....  IN fact the appreciation rate of $30 in a savings account for 30 years is probably much higher than waiting for an antique chair to be worth more money in 30 years.  Truth is, we have to let things go.

If you don't have kids and you just want to declutter, give things away as gifts.  How many times have we had friends who say, "I really like that, it's beautiful."  Give it to them.  As long as you know they will benefit from that one item.  IF they are cluttered, avoid donating to that person.  ha ha

Items are memories, items are feel good things.  When I go to estate sales I buy feel good items as I call them.  I found an antique pewter tea pot, I can't use it, I just like the look of it.  Now, from here on out, I have too many tea pots so if I get a new one I have to get rid of one.  Same thing with tea cups, etc..  It is about balance.  Finding the balance where the material items are not a representation of your happiness.

Grow that Garden!!!
Celeste

1 comment:

  1. My aunt and grandmother deal with serious hoarding issues. I've witnessed how it can destroy their lives. I'm affected slightly by it but not as bad (like those jeans that I swear I'll fit into ONE DAY!). I've found that I have been lucky in a way with all the moving. I've done in my life so that I can throw away all the junk! I hold onto coupons or other papers thinking I'll need them and put them in a drawer and realize 6 months later that I've got a paper junk pile. Yes, it is hard letting go, but necessary. Right now my grandmother is way behind financially and needs to sell her house and move to a smaller place, but she can't let go. If she lives long enough, eventually she'll have to live through the school of hard knocks...and even though you can warn them, their best lesson will be to let them fall and be there to pick up the pieces.

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