Down Size and Regrouping

Even thought the news has very little to jump for joy about, I work on being happy no matter what. I still believe "less is more" and getting rid of baggage whether it be mental or material "stuff" is a great thing to do.

It amazes me that in this day and age people still pay monthly storage fees for holding on to "stuff." Garages for most people including me have also been extra storage units although free, in the long run it still cost money. It cost money if you can't find what you're looking for so you go buy more, it cost money if you go to car washes because your at them more often. Mentally it cost because I don't care who you are when you see that door open and it looks like a cluster %$#* you always have that feeling of guilt or worse shame. I saw Peter Walsh on Oprah one day with his new book "Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?" I had a light bulb moment and realized "yes, YES it does," Not only was my butt fat and I seemed to be gaining weight, I also had everlasting headaches. The stress was too much and the clutter was out of control everywhere. I was drowning in all my stuff I seem to always need. I needed it for memory reasons, I was going to use it tomorrow or next year, I needed it for taxes purposes, because it was still new ect...
It amazes me the story's we tell ourselves, even after self help books, counselors and Oprah!

When I was at the point of needing to move I started selling off things to help pay for that road trip to "somewhere new." Craigslist had always been my favorite site for buying and selling things, I tried to have a garage sale but it was too much work for so little money. One day I had a brilliant idea to have an "open house garage sale." Where everything I wanted to sell was in a few rooms where people wandered in and out of my house. That was the Realtor in me, I also liked that I could post a few signs on busy streets and not have to lug everything in and out of my house to set up and take down. I could put it up on Craigslist that day instead of putting in a newspaper ad, that not only cost money it could not be changed. I will admit at the time it was a little emotional for me selling off some of my brand new things because I know what I paid for them and people can be ruthless at garage sales. In the end looking back six months later, I could not really say that I sold anything I regret. In-fact I could not tell you half the things I did sell and the things I can I'm not even for sure what I made on most of it. What I can tell you is when I was packing; I was shocked at how much stuff I still had and how long it took to pack. The process was about 3 months after I knew there was no keeping the house because the banks were not really working with people. I was crazy tired and when those moving trucks pulled up I was grateful for my friends who came to help. While loading the first truck, I was wishing I had sold even MORE stuff and loading the second truck made me wish I had just given half of it away.

As I unpack and open some of those boxes I just had to have, I am shocked about how much I no longer care about so much of that "stuff." What a waste of time and money spent carrying those boxes around, I now see where I was in a fog. I see where my life was out of control and I really do see that having less is more. I will not say my butt is smaller yet but I will say I now have more time and energy to work on me physically. I will also claim that house cleaning is a lot faster, I wake up in a home I can be proud of. I don't even mind when friends come over to the house because there is always a place to sit that is not next to stacks of papers or clothes.

Regrouping your thoughts in an organized space, office and home is truly liberating.