365QOD- Day1100

Giving Stuff Away

“Get rid of one thing each day for a month.”- advice in a story about TheMinimalists.com site

The other day I wrote a post about starting a habit of drinking one liter of water per day.  I explained how tough it is to add a new great habit because it has no emotional connection.  You can intellectually know that it is a great thing to do.  BUT to get emotional about it is tough and thus it is hard to set up a path to success.

How about the reverse side?  Getting rid of stuff we own is just as tough.  You can intellectually decide that to get rid of or give away something that you are not using is a great thing to do.  The mind can see that you are not using it and that someone else could benefit from it. 

But again the emotions get in the way.  The shirt that you want to give away is the same shirt that you have a memory attached to it.  You can clearly see the day that you did X while wearing the shirt.  Man giving the shirt away is like wanting to eliminate the memory out of your past.  So of course you hang it back in the closet.

I believe that this exercise is very tough but worthwhile.  Adding good things and subtracting things we have outgrown should be automatic.  The lesson in my opinion is that we should always adapt to change.  This way when change is forced upon us it is easier to adapt and survive.

The clutter in our lives is not just physical.  That type of clutter is the most visible because our closets and space can visually be seen bulging and needing to be cleaned.  Mental clutter is easy to not so easy to notice until we feel overwhelmed by the stress overload.  So maybe we need to get rid of one of each?

Today’s question is:

“What is the last and the next thing you will give away?”