Go! Just go!

Overwhelmed by information?

Got too much to do? Too little time? Perhaps it's time to clear the path. To pare your life into its wonderful essentials.

Many of our key choices won't rest on saying yes to great opportunities. Instead, the bulk of life-changing decisions involve saying no to unessentials and lesser things.

"Minimalism" and "living with less" is a current fad. Why? We have TOO MUCH surrounding us. Our brains get confused and overwhelmed by trivial. Details demand to be touched or negotiated.

Collecting too much of a good thing?

How was your morning? In the closet, did your trousers,  jackets, and shirts (blouses)  hang willy-nilly. Did choosing your outfit take more than a few minutes?

Instead of an easy 10-minute routine, did you root through the "plenty" in the bathroom for basics? Sort through skin cream / makeup and scramble for a fresh tube of toothpaste? Hesitate about which shampoo to use in the shower? Argh. Was there even time for a shower? Were you running late with too much to do before you left the house?

Was the rest of the day similar? Were you exhausted and discouraged by nightfall ... because you had too many plates and too much on those places. Did you drown in the details?

The top shelf "during":
piles pushed to one side
to install separators

As readers know, I'm on a clearing streak.  I've been sorting things I no longer use out of my life. This morning the top rack of my closet fell victim to my efforts. I'm glad I forgot to snap a picture of the before, with sweaters and tops leaning on each other. I recorded the during and after.

EEEK. That's all I can say. Eeek!

The top shelf "after': sorted into types (turtlenecks,
sweaters, T-shirts, etc.)

I'm no perfectionist: so what if the folded stacks lean a bit. I'm no minimalist: I kept clothes I've recently worn. I'm not obsessive about details: who cares about color coding? As with cooking, my creative method is to stand in front of the possibilities and quickly pluck items to go "into the soup" or on my back.

But I've been startled by this common sense, which eluded me before. As the house gets more orderly, it's becoming easier to define other choices. To say "Yes" to things that God is calling me to, and "No" to expectations that don't align with what I hear in prayer, meditation on God's Word, or from the counsel of those I trust.

Just the basics, please!

Some mornings when my toes touch the ground, I hear a little voice urging, "Go girl! Just go!" The hurdles and obstacles to a productivity seems fewer and further between with so many "NO!s" in the recent past.

How would you define your recent choices? Is there time to think? To reflect? Then to move "full steam ahead" once your course is charted?

Or is your life cluttered with so much "good" that the way forward seems impossible?

Read more:
*A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all. Proverbs 22:1-2 NIV

*Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:22-26 NIV

*God says, “From this time forward I make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known.” Isaiah 48:6

*Let anyone with ears to hear listen! Luke 8:8

Moravian Prayer: Holy Redeemer, as we face another day, enable us to spend quality time in communion with you. Touch our listening ears and teach us how to have a closer walk with you. In your name we pray. Amen. 

Feeling 50 items lighter ... just in time for Christmas

I bought into the challenge to "Throw Out Fifty Things," offered by Gail Blanke. (Link here) I also decided to keep track of the first 50 things I tossed or donated or sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

After a week, I'm only on #12. Mind you, we count 20 magazines as "magazines" (= 1 item not 20.) It's not like things haven't been moving out of the house before that, either. This past year, every time "the Blind" or "Disability Services" or whatever charity called, I promised them at least one bag of stuff. You know, I can't remember what was in those bags. I haven't missed any of it.

Many of us feel gorged by stuff. We've purchased without thinking ahead, adding to our collections instead of replacing the old with the new. Now we're drowning in things. Consider this:

• Possessions take time to clean, store, and use. Therefore, they take time from relationships and other priorities.
• Things may offer false self-esteem. People won't like us more because we set a pretty table or drive a fancy car.
• Stuff costs money, which we earn by working. Before buying, consider how many hours of your future you'll invest in your new plaything or clothes.
• Gluttony is not just about food. We can over-indulge in God's blessings, encouraged by materialism and advertising. Then we feel food, obese and unable to move, trapped by too much "good stuff."
• Could we invest in others as we clear out our lives? Can we bless someone less well off who needs our excess bedding or furniture? If we have adequate resources, would someone unemployed be able to sell our collections and live off the proceeds? (I have a few of these: any takers?)
• Consider a No-Purchase month. Mine is until Christmas. I admit I've filled several online shopping carts, then hit the delete button. WHEW. Purchasing is addictive and I need to STOP IT! How about you?

My house clearing started two years ago by shedding 18 bags of books and magazines from ONE enormous bookshelf. Since, I've dumped clothing, furniture, rugs, bedding,  lamps, fabric, cleaning supplies, and more. The house is still full. (Let's not talk about the basement and garage.)

I can breathe in a few rooms. The living room and dining room now usually await guests, tidy and picked up. I'm rarely embarrassed about the state of the kitchen, though hosting last Sunday's lunch while the walls were being painted was a challenge. (Things normally on the walls and counters lay in piles, helter-skelter.) My office wouldn't please a perfectionist but everything I need is at hand and the floors and desks are clear. Our bedroom is emptier.

I'm pleased by the progress to date. I'm also aware that there are more things that need sorting and giving away. After Christmas, I'll purge more ornaments (currently down to 9 bins from 15, lucky me. I know. I know. But our tree is 10' tall! Let me know before Monday if you need gold ball ornaments and I'll have one bin less.)

I gave several of our kids the annual ornaments Grandma and I bought for them each year. They weren't grateful. Or nostalgic. It was just stuff. One couple traditionally has a 1' tree, hardly big enough for 25 years of two ornaments a year. Whether they keep it or not is up to them: once one becomes an adult, "precious" things get to be your own decision! "Keep or toss. It's up to you, kids!"

What are your challenges as you look through closets and examine your rooms and offices? Have the blessings become burdens?

What are you going to do about it? Why not start with the Throw Away Fifty Things workbook: find it here. I'd love to hear about your initial reaction and any progress in the comments below.