GET RID OF STUFF!

Get Rid of Stuff!

How much stuff do you have? How much stuff do you think you need? How much does it cost in time and money to care for the stuff you own? Does your stuff make you happy?

“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.”   ― Socrates

If you are feeling overwhelmed with life, it may be time to get rid of some stuff. It may be time to decide how much stuff you really need. I’m not talking about living a monastic life. I’ve tried that. I’m talking about simplifying life. Deciding what you really need and living by a personal mission statement.

“It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”  ― Dale Carnegie

After all the kids left home, my husband and I downscaled from a four-bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment. We had a garage sale and got rid of a ton of stuff. Some of the stuff we hadn’t used in years. Some of it was just too bulky to fit into our new home. After a couple of years in this smaller domain and realizing we didn’t need the extra bathroom and bedroom, which were just excuses to accumulate more stuff, we looked for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment.

“We need much less than we think we need.” ― Maya Angelou

Freedom

“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”  ― Plato

The time came to scale down even more. Here we thought we had gotten rid of so much stuff, but there was still more we could live without! By eliminating the extra space, we needed less stuff to fill our new space.

“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” ― Martha Washington

Now, when I go shopping, I don’t get tempted by stuff I see that I “just gotta have.” I don’t have room for more stuff. I only have room for what I really enjoy. It takes about a half hour to clean the entire place. I have time to do things I love and am not a slave to things I have to do to maintain STUFF.

Simplicity

“Happiness is not a goal...it's a by-product of a life well lived.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

When you lose your focus on stuff, the world opens up to you. You have extra TIME you need to fill. Meditating on what you really want to do with your life is a great exercise. I still haven’t figured it out, but I am FREE to decide and not a slave to the tyranny of STUFF.

 Bliss!

Personal Resolve - Living Your Beliefs

Do you have a personal list of things you will NEVER do or ALWAYS do?

It's like having a personal mission statement. Everything in your life will fall into a category and can be easily dealt with.

If you know certain things that you will NOT bend on, it will make future decisions EASY. You won't have to labor over decisions if you have a personal resolve. It can be likened to a belief system. If you live in accordance with what you believe in your heart, you will be balanced and live a whole, full life without guilt.

I, personally, have resolved to NEVER cheat. I will not even cheat on Solitaire. So, whenever I am faced with a situation where I may believe I can "get away with" cheating, I will not hesitate to decline. This saves me time and keeps me true to myself. This eliminates the fallout of "What if...."

By the same token, you can have a list of things you will ALWAYS do. One of the things I always do is give people the benefit of the doubt. I try to always believe the best motives instigate the behaviors of others. Until someone proves me wrong, I will always believe the best about them. This, too, saves a lot of time.

That being said, NEVER and ALWAYS, while being absolute words, in my system are relative. If I am playing against a cheater, I can use the power of right to prove them wrong. If someone I trust betrays me, I can stop giving them the benefit of the doubt and become wary of them.

This fits in with my belief system and decision making process. There are variables in our dynamic world that need to be taken into account when making our personal lists but notwithstanding, deciding these things beforehand can make us stronger and more effective, giving us more time to focus on other more important things.