Just In Case...

Last weekend as I started to gather our holiday bins and decorations, I noticed something else.  

More bins of stuff.  

Yet those bins didn't contain holiday decor.  They held mason jars and pillow covers, and _____, and ______.

Instead of being excited about the upcoming decorating, I was thrown off by all the random stuff I had laying around. 

Storage spaces are great hiding spots for all those things that we don't use but we keep telling ourselves that we will one day. 

For me that was an entire bin of home decor that I was saving for my next house.  Throw pillows, mason jars, unique pieces that I had scored at a yard sale.  

Then I noticed 25 pieces of "artwork" (I use this lightly as these are just framed pieces) sitting in a closet.  Again for the next house.  

I inspected another closet because I was on a mission now.  Unread books that I had bought over a year ago sitting on a shelf.  Three full boxes of file folders that I had purchased from an estate sale.  Craft supplies from days gone by of when I tried to be Martha Stewart. 

Hold the phone.

"Why do I have all this stuff?"

         "Why am I not using it?"

                    "Why haven't I gotten rid of it?"

And then it dawned on me, because I was saving it "just in case".

My mind began justifying all the stuff.  "Your grandmaw gave you those mason jars and you were saving them to decorate your next house."

True, I was.  But the question begged to be asked, why am I not using them to decorate now?  Well, because I don't like them that much. 

The next logical question then, why haven't you gotten rid of them? Well, because my grandmaw gave them to me. 

Let's stop right there.  Does this sound familiar?

You aren't using it.  
You know it is unlikely that you will use it in the future.  
Yet you can't quite make yourself get rid of it because someone gifted it to you. 

My grandmaw could care less if I donated something she gave me years ago.  In fact, she has probably forgot all about it. 

Yet, I am keeping these items because I am afraid I will hurt her feelings. 

"Should I give it back to her?"

"Should I offer it to my cousins, what if they want it?"

No, no, and no. My mind was reeling with all the excuses and all the reasons that I couldn't just donate the blue mason jars. 

My mind was trying to talk me into keeping this pile of stuff.

Me, the subject matter expert on organization, was being swindled by her own mind.  I couldn't believe it! 

So I told those excuses to park it as I retrieved a box in which I labeled "Donations".  There is no room for judgement of that kind in my mind and there is no room for unused stuff in my home.  

How often do you find your mind chiming in with stories and excuses about your stuff?

Do you have the courage to stand up to your excuses?