Reflections From a Country Girl

There’s a new book out.  It’s called It’s all Too Much and it’s about accumulating “stuff.” 

Peter Walsh, the author, points out that we are controlled by our stuff. He suggests we buy way too much just for the sake of keeping up with the Jones. 

He goes on to say that this is the first generation that expects a separate bedroom for each child, televisions in every room of the house, a separate bathroom for every family member, a pair of shoes to go with each outfit, and even a closet full of clothes – though most of us only wear 20% of what is there now. 

He also suggests that we keep things just because we may need them – one day.

Enough is enough.

What are we doing to our families?

What are we doing to ourselves?

Believe me; I am right there with the rest of you.  I have realized, over time, that many of these things I thought were necessary are really not so essential after all. 

Several years ago I began lightening my load a few things at a time.  I still have lots of stuff, mind you, but I do have a plan in place for “regifting” and other methods of sharing the things I am not using with others. 

Then there are all the “memories” things I have accumulated.  I started out with nine large boxes of pictures and eleven boxes of memorabilia and sifted them down to 33 binders.  Those binders hold things I want to make sure my son has after I’m gone.  

While not essential, the binders are most always pulled out during family gatherings or when my son comes over with friends. They are much more manageable and certainly a bit more orderly than sifting through 20 boxes.

I also used to have 29 boxes of Christmas decorations.  Now THAT is excessive. 

I am now down to three for that holiday…and one for each of the others.  Soon I expect I will be condensing those even more.

What I’m hoping here is that with age comes wisdom and that I will be doing with less and less stuff as time goes on and embrace positive changes in other areas as I go.  

My wish for you today is that you take a look at what you’ve accumulated and see if there is anything you can share with others.  Pulling in those reigns can help you take a closer look at what is really important. Doing that may just give you a new lease on life. ~ Joellen  

This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2007 at 4:35:am and is filed under Family/Friends Gatherings, Life & Events, Living Life to the Fullest, Parenting & Families, Releationships - general, Shopping, Teens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.