By: Kim Peterson

CommonSenseHealth.Org

As our family prepares for an upcoming move, the last few weeks have been spent clearing, cleansing, & gutting what no longer serves us. Our family dynamics are changing as older children grow and leave, graduations will be taking place, and we move to a new home, new city & different lifestyle.

As I clear the books, clothes, appliances, nick knacks etc. I enjoy the prospect that they will bless the next person who becomes the recipient of them (Craigslist & DAV has, and continue to gladly taken them off my hands). I love the fact that we can connect with and help someone that we have never met & likely will never meet again as a result of the Internet. People, in general, are wonderful. Everyone is carrying his or her own challenges and the ability to help another, never fails to lift me up.

So what has become clutter for me becomes a valuable tool or necessity for someone else.

Upon clearing, I’ve also thought “why is it that we feel we really need all this stuff?”

I mean…how much stuff do we need and at what point does the stuff become a burden rather than an asset? I guess that is for each person to decide individually but…

• If you have a challenge in finding your daily necessities as a result of an over abundance of not so necessary items…

• Or have 2 or 3 of the same appliance…

• Or horde/collect food or supplements to the degree that they expire before you can use them…

 Then perhaps its time to re-evaluate your habits and clear the clutter.

Here are a couple of tips to help keep things manageable.

• Use a timer and take 15-minute intervals daily to work on…junk drawers, closets, paper clutter etc.

• When you tackle a room, use boxes to separate Give Away, Put Away and Throw Away…items. Again, approaching the task in 15-minute intervals it becomes more manageable to tackle what appears to be a monumental task.

• Ask yourself, “do I really love this?” Yes, it could have been expensive at one point, yes perhaps someone gave it to you and you feel compelled (guilt ridden) to keep it, yes that rainy day could be just around the corner (Seriously? Living your life waiting for that rainy day is really not a good way to go… but that topic can wait for another post)…but do you LOVE it? If not then let it go.

• When you buy something new, then something old should go out. We have a bottomless give away box where we bless what we no longer need and send it to someone that does. Just think of what a difference you can make in your community and the world if you give the right book or tool or article of clothing to someone less fortunate. Perhaps that shirt makes them feel more confident at a job interview…or…they make a positive life altering change as a result of reading a passage in a book you no longer reference… the possibilities are endless.

You then liberate yourself by helping someone else. By doing so you may find a path that up until this point has been hidden.

Clear the path and you may find answers, assistance, and courage that were hidden under what you thought you needed…but actually…you pretty much didn’t.