It has been almost a month, actually I think it has been a month since we’ve moved into our new place. When we moved, I couldn’t believe the amount of stuff that came out of our tiny apartment. The storage closet was basically packed full, and yet most of it was stuff I had not seen in forever. And of course, with the busy-ness of life, and the sickness that has ensued this house, there are still tubs and boxes sitting in the main floor of my house, waiting to be sorted into items with dedicated places to be, items that are to be sold, and last but not least, items that do need to be kept but put away for the time being. Now, I don’t know about you, but I HATE clutter. And that’s what is in my house. Things that I don’t even want to sort, don’t want to go through the emotional up and down about throwing stuff out that could be used in some way. I hate doing this kind of thing. I mean really, how did I get most of this stuff in the first place? My only guess is thinking back to a time of greater pay, many shopping trips, and collecting things I thought for sure I’d use and never did. What a waste.
I remember, a couple summers ago, my husband took me to visit a man that lived down the road from him. This man has such an amazing history with stories you could never believe. And yet, despite his awful past, the one he is ashamed of, the brutality of nature required of him for so many years, he has become the most calm, the most peaceful, the most content man I’ve ever met. I’ll never forget visiting his house. This man has the ability to make you feel so valued, so wanted, so welcomed. He never wants to talk about things that trouble him, but would much rather talk about you, your life, how things are going.
Now there are certain things I noticed about him and the way he lives that both my husband and I admire to this day. One is that the man is so knowledgeable. He knows all the right people, a lot of world-renowned people, and reads. The amount of quotes and advice this man can give you not just from his life, but from the books he’s read is phenomenal. He spends his time on family, on learning, on things that truly matter. The way I should be spending my time always.
The second thing that especially is vivid in my house as I sort through the endless “stuff”, is that this man’s house contains the bare minimum. In his bedroom is his bed, a dresser, and a display shelf with pictures of family and books. Simplicity with a sliding glass door for him to gaze into the wilderness each morning, and what a view! I don’t know who couldn’t be happy waking up and seeing that every morning. His living room contained nothing but a mattress on the floor and a tv. No couches, no chairs, nothing. His kitchen was not cluttered with things all over the counters, but instead had only the bare minimum and a simple kitchen table and 4 chairs. There was no mess, no clutter, no confusion. Everything he owned, he owned for a reason. He did not squander money uselessly on things that “could be useful”. The things he had he needed. And that was it. By doing this, it allowed him to indulge in the finer things. Flying to see his children, sitting at the local coffee shop, enjoying the company of people from town, living life calm and one day at a time. This man had his priorities straight.
I cannot tell you how much I want to be like that. Yes, I do want to have at least a couch in my living room, and maybe a few more things that he didn’t have, but to be honest, I don’t need all of this stuff that I have. Money has a way of making you feel powerful enough to want and need the things our head conceives that we do. Yet really, do you even use it 3 times a week? Once a month? Is it really that important to you? Or is it just some form of a fake emotional attachment you’ve created to something utterly useless to you?
Sometimes I watch the shows “American Pickers” or “Canadian Pickers” and see how much buying things has become almost an addiction. These people end up (usually) with barns and buildings just full of “stuff” they couldn’t seem to stop buying. And then when they haven’t seen it in 30-60 years, they finally call someone to sort through it and see what they can sell. I definitely don’t want to end up like that. I want to have a clean, neat house that people can enter and see that exactly everything has a place, and everything I have are things that I need.
I had a conversation with my dad last week. He had just bought a newer house up the road from his current one and was thinking of all the cleaning and moving that was about to happen. He mentioned how his building in the back was packed full of stuff, mostly stuff he never used. He mentioned these particular windows. You see, our family had an old camp (really an ancient farmhouse) in the woods area where the men would stay to go hunting or fishing, and the whole family could find a place to sleep if necessary to stay together on a weekend. It unfortunately got burned down by people that I knew in a drunken stupor (a whole other story). My dad needed to change his windows in his house, so he put in the new windows and kept the old ones, as they were still in good shape, for a new camp should they ever decide to build one. It has been years later, and no camp has been built. In fact, the family had decided to put all of their camper trailers on the lot instead, and my dad has even decided to sell his camper trailer. It seems like the family gathering times are getting less and less now that us younger members are growing up, getting jobs, and leaving home. So my dad has finally come to face the fact that the windows are useless to be keeping, and though they may be good to use, they aren’t for him anymore.
It’s all a process. We have such good hopes for things, such plans, and most of the time, if they aren’t needed, they will never be used. Don’t add to the clutter in your house. Don’t buy things you don’t need. A little indulgence every once in awhile, but nothing that will add to a hoarder’s paradise.
My last little tip: If you see something in the store you want but aren’t 110% sure you absolutely NEED, then walk away. Go somewhere else, to another store, walk awhile. If that item does not leave your head, and you feel you’ll regret leaving it, go get it. But if you have continued shopping and you start to think of the item as, “Nah… I don’t really need it”, then you are safe to walk away permanently. It seems so simple, yet it works so well. I do it all the time and it has saved me in the times when my pay is less to not waste the money I have on things I only think I need, and I don’t really. Try it out! It may save you some money and some space 🙂
Do you have any tips for getting in your water for the day? Any tips for parents who have children who hate water like I did? Leave your suggestions in the comments below!
Calm in Christ and Fitness 