Simplifying My Life

I have stuff.

I have a lot of stuff. Just ask Amanda.

This weekend I helped pick up the basement with my kids(we created a mess). While cleaning up the basement I really realized how much stuff I really have. As I have been wandering the house looking for things to sell online to get money to buy a new bike I realized that I need to let go of my stuff.

I have read many articles about the less you own, the less stress you have in your life. The less you have pick up, clean, worry about, etc. It all makes sense. Except that I don't like to give things up.

For example, I have a camera(a very, very nice one) that my daughter broke about two years ago. It just sits in a drawer. This weekend I finally had the courage to list it on Ebay.

This is a broken device so not a big deal. My larger goal is to really eliminate my stuff and keep just essentials. True essentials. I own probably over a 1000 books. It is time for about 900 of them to go. Old toys, baseball cards, etc. Time to move them out. It is going to be hard, but I know that the freedom of stuff will be huge.

I am giving myself until the end of the summer to complete this task. I will keep you posted during my journey. This could be the toughest one yet. I keep asking myself why I have ______(insert item here) when I have not touched, used, looked at it in years. No need. Time to go.

What is even weirder is that when I made this decision this weekend two things arrived in my email.

One was a quote

“You have to ask yourself,
‘Does this item or thought or response
move me closer to my vision for my best life?’
If it does, great. If it doesn’t,
what is it doing in your life?”
~ Peter Walsh
(1956-)

The second item was a link to a great blog that this latest blog post:

The Short, 16-Step Guide to Getting Rid of Your Crap

You can read it here

If you have any advice or tips, let me know. Otherwise, Craigslist and Ebay here I come.