These were not the words of yours truly, but of a client I recently worked with as she prepared her home for sale. Her home was a veritable storage unit of the children’s toys, and books, crafts and clothes – most of which the kids had have long outgrown. Not surprisingly that fact didn’t make it any easier to part with these items.
At least at first.
As we went through bin after mixed up bin of stuff (plastic bits and pieces), she started processing what to let go. It wasn’t easy. For some people it’s really, really difficult. They look confused and heartbroken about the obvious answer, that it is time to let this stuff go. This particular client eventually got there.
“I’m taking this as a life lesson,” she said. “There is so much stuff here. And I feel like I’m missing or losing if I get rid of it, but I’m gaining really. It feels good to give away.”
You don’t need to wait until you have to prepare for a move to “gain”. You can feel good today by trying a few strategies:
Go to your clothes closet and apply the 20-80 rule. According to statistics, we wear 20 percent of our clothes 80 percent of the time. Remove the items you barely wear, if possible. Notice how much lighter you feel.
Household decorations are another great candidate to remove clutter. Let’s be honest, we have most of these items simply because they match the color of the room or were on sale. Take a quick walk around the room. Note the items that are the most beautiful or have some sort of sentimental meaning or memory. Remove the ones that don’t.
If you’re looking for some additional strategies on how get in the right mindset to part with items you thought you couldn’t, check out this blog by Joshua Becker.
If you need some assistance in taking this on, call me at 508-246-6120 or drop a line.
