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Simplifying

When you move you get to sort and select what you are taking and leaving behind.  Even when you spend weeks doing that before moving day you might get to the next place… the new home … and realize that you are still taking too much and not leaving enough behind.  At least that is what I have found.  I thought I had done a good job of sorting and selecting, of culling or pruning or what ever term you want to use for moving the things you don’t use or want onto their next owner. Once the dust settle in the new place, I found that I had brought too much stuff with me.

My Dad once said “Don’t keep stuff.  No one wants it when you are finished with it.”  He was about my age then and heading out in a motor home with my mum for what turned into a 4 or 5 year adventure in what Mum called “the tube”.  Dad was right about that and about many other things.  We have a room full of very good and valuable STUFF in our former home that will likely go to a garage sale … even after the children and other members of the family have been to visit and taken what they wanted.

This whole exercise has been exhausting.  Not just physically but emotionally and mentally too.  Last night I sat in my beautiful new condo like a zombie, unable to make one more decision about where something should go.  I know that I will regain my decision making ability at some point but I could sure use a break from it right now.  But we are no where near done.  We have completed Phases one and two of the downsize.  Phase three which is the “what to do with the rest” phase is just beginning.

I am going to have to add a phases four I think.  That will be when I finally get to sift through what ended up in the new place once more with the goal of sorting and selecting one more time what stays and what goes.  I am beginning to understand why people pay professionals to organize their stuff.  I don’t want to do that.  I am happy sifting and sorting when I have the time to consider each item and make good decisions and I will do that.  I find myself hoping for rainy Saturdays this spring so that I can enjoy without guilt the exercise of moving stuff on to their next owner.

Did I mention that most of my stuff is books?  One of the movers very accurately mentioned to me after I apologized for the number of heavy boxes I had packed for him to carry that they had this new invention now-a-days called a computer where you could buy and store and read books on a screen and they didn’t weigh anything. That reminded me of something my mother used to say “Knowledge doesn’t weigh anything.  You can carry it with you where-ever you go.”  She was right.  She often is.  I find that the books that provided you with the knowledge are hard to let go of.  I found myself wanting to read them all again.  Maybe I will or maybe I will find the courage to let them go with gratitude and respect and let them find their next owner.

Moving, especially downsizing or rightsizing makes you think about things differently.  Like most projects, there is a sense of satisfaction when you get it right.  AND there is a transfer of attitude and knowledge to other aspects and areas of your life.  I had the good fortune of two moves already in 2013.  My office moved from the 5th floor to the 13th floor and my new home is on the 13th floor on 13th avenue.  It is auspicious and it is the year of the snake.  I am a snake and snakes bring prosperity   We all need a little of that these days.  Gung hei fat choi!

Good thing I don’t have triskaidekaphobia.

 

Dr. Nancy Love Visit Website
As an Executive Coach, a Professional Speaker and an author, Dr. Love gives the gift of courage and confidence to her clients... courage to make a change and confidence to make a difference. Learn more »
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