Being an organizer leads me to love to purge items that are no longer useful to me. The joke around my house if you can't find something... mom probably gave it to Goodwill.
To Purge means to cleanse, purify; to get rid of something undesirable. But why is it so hard to do for some people?
One thing that I have learned is that 'pack rats' will fill any space no matter what size. The clutter eventually overwhelms the person, the home and sooner or later the quality of life. IT then has control of you.
We keep our stuff for all kinds of reasons. Let's look at the excuses of why we don't purge:
• I might need it one day - it is true, however if you have not used it or looked for it in the past year, then you have done fine without it.
• I don't want to seem ungrateful - you are truly not ungrateful for the thought they put behind it. But you have to decide if the item is right for you.
• It brings back so many memories - Emotional attachment is the hardest thing to get through. In all reality the object triggers the memory for you. We are afraid that if we let the item go we will forget the person. But that is not true.
• I don't want to hurt so and so's feelings - Your heart is in the right place but if they knew the stress it was causing, they wouldn't want that for you.
• It was so expensive - We all have at least one of these... could be big or it could be small. Regardless, it is still taking up usable space. You will not get back the money you paid for it but the feeling of it being gone is priceless.
The bottom line is to surround yourself with the items that are useful to you. Don't create clutter and chaos because you don't want to hurt other people, you will be punishing yourself instead.
Find the things that bring you joy and provide you with order and function... Purge the rest.
To Purge means to cleanse, purify; to get rid of something undesirable. But why is it so hard to do for some people?
One thing that I have learned is that 'pack rats' will fill any space no matter what size. The clutter eventually overwhelms the person, the home and sooner or later the quality of life. IT then has control of you.
We keep our stuff for all kinds of reasons. Let's look at the excuses of why we don't purge:
• I might need it one day - it is true, however if you have not used it or looked for it in the past year, then you have done fine without it.
• I don't want to seem ungrateful - you are truly not ungrateful for the thought they put behind it. But you have to decide if the item is right for you.
• It brings back so many memories - Emotional attachment is the hardest thing to get through. In all reality the object triggers the memory for you. We are afraid that if we let the item go we will forget the person. But that is not true.
• I don't want to hurt so and so's feelings - Your heart is in the right place but if they knew the stress it was causing, they wouldn't want that for you.
• It was so expensive - We all have at least one of these... could be big or it could be small. Regardless, it is still taking up usable space. You will not get back the money you paid for it but the feeling of it being gone is priceless.
The bottom line is to surround yourself with the items that are useful to you. Don't create clutter and chaos because you don't want to hurt other people, you will be punishing yourself instead.
Find the things that bring you joy and provide you with order and function... Purge the rest.
