Cleaning Out

A few weeks ago, I sorted out and cleaned out all my clothes that were not being used and taking up space. It felt great!

How often do we hang on to things, thinking that what if one day I’m going to need that and I’ll regret it if I get rid of it now. There have been times in my life where I found it had been handy to hang on to some items as I eventually discovered a use for them.

However, more recently I realized that this thinking of mine had come from a poverty mentality. In other words, the basis for wanting to hang on to things was more than just about being frugal – it was the fear of not having what I needed at a future time.

I am all for being frugal and believe it is good to apply this in our lives no matter how much we do or do not have. I also think that if I do not have a current use for something, then somebody else probably does and would benefit more from the item than I would. In this way, the item is not really being discarded or wasted – it is being re-used instead.

I took most of my clothes to my local op-shop to meet a need in the community. There are many people in my local community who rely on the shop to supply what they need, and the re-sale of the item keeps the shop in business to continue to supply to that need also.

My tip is to really get to the root of why you need to hang on to that item:-

• Would someone else benefit more from this than yourself right now?
• Are you afraid you will not have access to this or a similar item in a couple of years’ time – for a just in case situation?
• Is it wise to keep this item right now?

Or there might be some other reason that you feel you want to keep or discard the item. Sometimes just processing through can help get perspective and help make the next decision of keep, discard or re-home.

Each time I clean out an area of my house, I feel so much lighter within myself. We have a room as you walk in the front door that is next to the kitchen. Because we were not using this as a dining room or any other specific purpose, it just seemed to automatically collect whatever did not really have a home, or things that we would find a home for or put away later.

This bugged me no end and I really just wanted a space that looked and felt homey – somewhere I could relax, read, study and pray. So eventually, I bit the bullet, purchased the bookshelves and created a space I loved. Not only did this fix the problem of the space collecting homeless items, it also helped clean out the piles of books that were stored in another room of the house.

We are still not all the way there with a perfectly sorted home, but taking one step at a time towards creating our home the way we want it has been totally worth it when it comes to peace of mind.

The other great thing about cleaning out is that it makes room for what we do need or want to have in that space next. How can we receive the next thing God has for us, if we do not have room to receive it?

Have a blessed day.

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