Am I the only one that seems to have endless bouts with clutter. Ever so often I tell myself I am going to work on getting the clutter out of my house, and after many attemps, for some odd reason there always seems to be something else coming in to make more clutter. Now, mind you, I don't just go out and buy things just because I like shopping. I'm really not buying anything, but if you go to the mailbox every day, or some of the good neighbors decide they want to load off their stacks of magazines in order to get rid of the clutter in their homes, guess what, that clutters up the house again. My husband is a good example of bringing in clutter. He has his work stuff, his outside the house "work stuff", and especially all the different tools that he uses while off work, that for some reason all ends up sitting around all weekend. Then there's the garden stuff, that if we could afford an outback shed, we could mysteriously hide most of the clutter that this makes. Then there's those plastic bags you have to put somewhere until you use them or maybe recycle them. I am a firm believer in reusing things. I am not the pack rat type. Some folks are. Although, as I said previously, if I can reuse something, I try to keep it around rather than throwing it in the trash. No, I don't mean that I reuse tin cans, etc. just some things like once used plastic bags, paper bags, newspapers which usually go to the compost pile for mulching or smothering out weeds. I have cloth and old clothes upstairs that I have intended to make skirts for my grandkids....That's a little joke in itself. They tell me they will probably see that next year, right!
All goes on the back burner, because I am inevitably having something else to take care of. It seems that as soon as I get in gear to do things one way, someone in my home comes along and changes their mind and decides that something else should be done. This is especially embarrassing when I have told a person that we have made a decision about something, and within a few hours it could possibly change to another something or nothing at all. So I have decided, if possible, to work within my limitations. Since I have an old back injury, I have to be careful of bending, pushing, standing for long periods, especially on cement; lifting heavy objects; sitting in certain chairs for long periods. But, most of all I have to be careful not to allow all the "stuff" that inevitably wants to come in my home. Because someone has to pick it up or clean around it. And guess who that is, usually!!! Since the rooms in my house are not large and open, I have to really work on keeping the clutter down in order to enjoy some calmness about me.
The older I get the more I cry out for a large open space with no clutter!!!!
I bought a little book last year while visiting my daughter in the Virginia Beach area entitled 101 Ways to Clean Out the Clutter by Emilie Barnes. Every now and then I sit that book in view so that I can periodically read it and get motivated to downsize. And it has inevitably done exactly that because I have in the past been able to get rid of things (mainly clothes) by giving to someone who really needs something. And while I'm talking about giving stuff I don't need away, most of the time I do not give anything to the Good Will Store unless I can't do anything else with it. I usually try to find someone who is actually "poor" to give the items to. Most people who think they're poor have the money to go out and buy cigarettes (at $4 a pack) or get their toenails and fingernails manicured, or have a big screen TV in their house and have a mailing list of DVDs coming into their house along with Internet Service, or they have an accumulation of at least 200-300 DVD collectibles that probably cost at least $10 each if not more, and unlimited Cell Phone paraphanalia...And they have a few dogs in their house that they have to buy dog food for! The list goes on and on...
Are you tired by now...I sure am. I'd much rather spend my money and energy on something eternal.
Until Next Time....
No comments:
Post a Comment