I’ve been reading a lot of books and posts lately about decluttering and organizing your life and home.
My kids think my sickness has spread. I regularly wave the white flag and admit to the obvious.
WE HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF.
They don’t like to hear those words because what they hear is, “stop what you are doing and come help me” And sometimes the task might seem a bit too overwhelming for them.
They don’t share my enthusiasm for editing our lifestyle. But in lieu of spending a bunch of money on therapy and having a therapist tell me what I already know, here is my conclusion as I try not to over think it:
I can simply manage better when there is less to manage.
Less stuff on the counters. Less plastic containers in the cabinet. Less towels in the linen closet. Less bills in the bill pile. Less laundry to stay on top of. Less appointments on the schedule. Less.
And what that means is I can be a better wife, a better mom, a better friend and quite honestly, a better stranger to those who might cross my path and need help. If I am not suffocating from stuff and being over scheduled, I am free to breathe in deeper and exhale in a place of peace.
I know…whacko. But if you have been there, you know what I mean.
So I enlist the kids. And to make it more manageable for them, I simply ask them to start with 10. That’s all. Just pick up 10 things and put them away (shoes, hair clips, pencils left out, etc). Or choose 10 things to donate. Or go through your books and choose 10 to donate to the sister school in the rural area of the county. Just start with 10.
And do you know what happens? When I do it with them, there is suddenly a physical change of 50 things at my house. (4 kids + 1 mom x 10 things each = 50) And that’s just today. By tomorrow it will look more like 100.
Bite size pieces.
Now if I can just pass my sickness on to my husband and his garage…
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I have been reading a book called 7 by Jen Hatmaker which deals with this exact same thing. We too have too much stuff and I’m trying to get it under control. So far I haven’t been overly successful, but a little is better than nothing.
I have not read it yet but it is on my list. Jen was an encouragement to us in our adoption. Bite size pieces…
Jen was actually in my travel group for court in Ethiopia! I was so blessed to have met her and will get to see her again next month when she’s here in Nebraska for a conference!