Need more energy? Looking for less worry and stress in your life? Feel like you don’t have the time you used to? Well the solution may be to sell or donate a lot of your possessions.
Just having possessions means you have to think about them. That takes energy. It’s draining. I suggest you sell or donate everything in your house / condo / apartment that you haven’t used in the past two years. That may sound scary, but you will love the way you feel. Once you get started, you will start to look for other things to get rid of. The two year guideline will become one and then maybe six months.
I am a big proponent of simplifying the stuff you own and the complexity of your life. Over the past year, my girlfriend and I have gone through the house and removed truckloads of stuff we no longer need. Literally truckloads. At one point I used our BowFlex exercise machine, but for the past several years I was only using it as a bench to sit on while I put on my shoes. Not exactly worth keeping it around for that. Meanwhile, when I looked at it, I thought about how I should use it. But I never did. I had moved on but didn’t complete the move because I kept the Bowflex sitting in the garage along with its mental baggage.
It is amazing how much stuff we accumulate over the years without realizing it. All that stuff has emotions attached to it. When you open your closet and see your old ski gear for example, it triggers memories of your best runs, your falls, your travels. It triggers emotions about how you were feeling and leads to thinking about how your life has gone since then. Your mind can’t help but start thinking and that takes energy.
I’m sure you have noticed how much energy kids have. Compare that to the typical sixty year old. Some of that energy difference is biological, but I would argue some of the difference is the weight of the memories the sixty year old is carrying around with him.
Removing the stuff removes the emotions and makes you feel much lighter and care free. It sounds silly if you haven’t tried it, but it is true. You may believe the “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” idea, but you know you have that old junk in your basement. You probably don’t realize how often you think of it. Get rid of it and feel the difference.
From a financial standpoint, cleaning out your house can be beneficial too. You can put a little money back in your checking account with the money you make selling your stuff or by way of a tax deduction. With springtime upon us, now is a good time to begin simplifying your life. Give it a try and see how much lighter and freer you feel.