As the adoption fundraising yard sale is rapidly approaching, I was recently inspired by something that I heard Suze Orman say on Oprah. Now, please note, I am not a hugh (ha ha) fan of Suze or Oprah, but I just happened to turn it on this day and I did agree with Suze's statement.
She was discussing personal debt and was comparing one couple that was $90K in credit card debt to another couple who, after retiring, were living debt free in an RV traveling around the US. She and Oprah went and toured the RV and the place was immaculate. Her kitchen cabinets were neatly organized, even her clothes were neatly folded and sorted by color in the drawers. Suze noted that this is how people who don't have debt live....because they actually appreciate what they have. She also went on to say that people who have debt tend to live in states of chaos, etc. and tend to have clutter, unused items laying around, etc. It inspired me to take a look at myself. Am I living like we are in debt or like we are debt free based on how my home is organized. I was actually a bit embarrassed with what I found.
Soooo....I am fall cleaning. There are items I have moved from house to house that I have never used. It's not that I have even kept them because I think I might use them, but more of a sentimental thing (oh, my college roommate gave me that). As I looked at this stuff with a new perspective, I realize that it is just crap and that the majority of the crap is stuff that I don't really use and it ends up stressing me out. The more I pull out, the larger the yard sale pile is becoming.
As I sell something that might still have some emotional attachment at the yard sale, I will gently remind myself that it is just stuff and that I would much rather have a child in my arms than a mess in my cabinets.
7 comments:
I agree!! It is just stuff, as imperfect people it is easy to get caught up with the rest of the worlds wants. After working with homeless through church, I am so thankful for what I have. Stuff really is only that. I laught at my neighbor that freaks out if someone touches her fence or hits a nerf ball on it. crazy..
I totally agree! I love purging and living simply! Great post, Brea! Oh, and I e-mailed you about your fundraising yard sale. Did you get it? Let me know!
Ugh...stuff. I am way attached and sentimental about stuff. The line in there about the college roommate...yeah I have a moose one of my roommates gave me...just gave it to my son. We emptied our storage locker and we are trying to pare down what we are keeping. Want to come help?
Hey Brea! Do you know about the Flylady? She's sort of a housekeeping "guru", but her big thing is decluttering, and letting go of excess stuff. Your message reminded me of what Flylady is always saying about "FLYing" (i.e., Finally Letting Go). Check her out at flylady.net, and if you sign up for her free emails, you'll get a bunch of reminders throughout the day about how to follow her plan. She has a fixation with the kitchen sink, but I do like her style. :)
I agree... Thanks for the reminder! It also sounds very similar to the idea that the more clutter you have, the more you tend to "pack on" or "keep on" the pounds. There's a book out there called, "Does this clutter make my butt look big?" I've never read it but it sounds interesting.
I'm right in the middle of doing the whole cleaning out thing myself. I did one massive clean out when we moved here and now we're doing another.
You won't believe this, but Craig and I have actually considered doing the whole our-rv-IS-our-home-thing. While we haven't committed to doing it yet, it's still on the burner.
Julie-I think that's awesome! RV'ing around the country sounds like a blast to me! Do they make a hybrid RV? :)
Post a Comment