How to Let It Go

empty boxes from discarding the unnecessary

The purging and packing has been going strong this week along with so much trash that Beloved is thinking we may need to go to a landfill. The car loads to Good Will continue, too. 

No, we are not hoarders but we've been blessed with large houses where things just accumulate over the years. Now that we are moving to a place with no basement whatsoever, and three (yes, 3!) guest rooms, along with a drastic change in climate, the requirements of our home and the necessities to be comfortable will be  different.

Getting rid of the old: when I talk to friends about retirement and moving, invariably the conversation stalls at this subject. People dread going through their things and making the decisions of what to keep and what to release. 

I know. I have shed literal tears as boxes were opened to reveal objects of significance from my childhood clear up to yesterday. 

But sentimentality takes up space, and it's costly to transport on a cross-country move.

Tough decisions have to be made. I prayed about it. I really did. Some of these things are packed away, for what? I don't pull them out yearly to look at them; I don't let anybody else play with them; and to put it all out on display requires more clutter-inducing furniture and money. Possessions on display need to be kept clean. 

Hmm. Maybe some of these decisions aren't so hard to make after all. 

Then there is the matter of arriving at the new place and needing to find a place for everything. THAT is stressful when there is too much! (spoken by one who knows)

Keep in mind that what is here is just stuff. If we don't dispose of it, a flood or a tornado or some other disaster could whisk it away from us in the blink of an eye! 

When I stop in the midst of those mental gymnastics to remember where I am headed, focusing on mental images of what is ahead of me,  the conundrums of today diminish. Decisions come easier; images of what I want to accomplish sharpen; the ability to release comes easier.

As these thoughts turned over in my mind, I was reminded that as followers of Jesus Christ, we should not allow ourselves to get bogged down or entangled with things having no eternal value. Our   heavenly home is ahead of us. We are to work toward building up treasures there while we are here, not resting so heavily on that which is temporal.

My conclusions came down to this:

1) do I really like and enjoy the item

2) is it useful to me in a practical way

3) can it be stored easily and at no great cost

4) will it speak well of me when I die and my family finds it

5) should I take a snapshot of it and then dispose of it responsibly

this is a keeper

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