The "Do You Have Too Much Stuff?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Cleaning the house.  For the last 10 or so years, since my wife still works a more regular schedule that I do, I clean the house and grocery shop on Fridays.  Do I mind it?  Nah!  Carol did those jobs for years and years while I was teaching and working weekends doing siding, maintenance jobs, etc. to try and make ends meet with a family of five.  Now, with the kids all out of the house and no longer teaching school, I have the time to do those chores so that Carol and I can have the weekends free to enjoy together.  But, it's the cleaning I want to get back to for this story.  The vacuuming is taken for granted, but the dusting of all the "stuff" we have accumulated over the years is another story.  Five years ago, when my mom and dad both became ill and I had to clean out their house and get rid of their "stuff," it made me think of all the "stuff" that Carol and I had accumulated during our marriage.  For weeks I would load my car with mom and dad's "stuff" and bring it home with me to put out for the trash man.  Then I started to wonder, do we really need those three boxes in the dining room that are stacked on top of one another for decoration?  Do we really need the bird's nest that we bought while in Hawaii that sits on top of a display stand in our living room?  Do we really need the eight inch wide plastic cylinder on the wet bar filled with over a hundred sea shells that collects dust?  Do I really need that miniature replica of a clipper ship sitting on my desk?  The answer to all these questions is no, but they all carry memories that we don't care to forget, at least not yet.  Carol and I were going to buy another piece of artwork on our recent vacation to the Caribbean, but we didn't.  We asked each other what will happen to all our artwork when we die.  Will the kids see it's value or worth or will they put it out for the trash man as I did with my mom and dad's "stuff.'  We have collected and accumulated "stuff" for 45 years of marriage and it's tough to throw it away.  When we moved from our house on Janet Avenue where we lived for 29 years to our new house on Harrington Drive, we discarded plenty.  Box after box of "stuff" filled the trash cans in the alley behind our Janet Avenue home, some to be claimed by neighbors who eventually sold it at our neighborhood yard sale.  What "stuff" we did bring with us that never got used in our new house, was packed in boxes and placed in our crawl space above our garage.  From time to time I go through it and pitch some of it.  I just hate to throw out something that I know we will need in the future.  But, when is the future?  Eventually we may move to a retirement community and then what will happen to all the "stuff" that occupies the ten rooms in our current home.  Hopefully our kids will see fit to claim some of our "stuff" to keep with their "stuff' in storage.  It is a never ending circle.  I was reading about how you can get rid of your "stuff" that's not worth saving.  

1. Sell it!  Can be sold on eBay or even Craigslist.  I'm not really into garage sales, so that's not an option.
2. Trash it!  Tough to do, but the Corvette trophies I have in my office mean nothing to anyone but me.  There goes one boxful.  Boxes of old dishes that none of the kids want also could hit the curb.
3.  Give it away!  Clothing that is no longer in style may be needed by someone, so take it to Goodwill or Salvation Army.  

Then there is the "stuff" that should be tossed today such as VHS tapes and cassette tapes.  I trashed the VHS and cassette player years ago so the tapes mean nothing.  Old electronic chargers and cables that went with the old electronic "stuff" can be tossed.  Items that were part of old hobbies that you never followed through on can be tossed.  Gadgets in the garage, work bench and kitchen that were for one purpose and are now in a box somewhere can get tossed.  See how easy it is.  How about the exercise equipment in your bedroom or basement that hasn't been used since you reached you ideal weight or strength.  Yeah right!  Toss or give it away.  All that I now have to do, as well as you, is to decide what is necessary and what is really "stuff."  Remember, there's food, there's clothing, there's shelter, and then there's "stuff."  Start packing.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.