Reducing Your Possessions As Part Of
Your Feel Great Journey

When it comes to simplifying, reducing possessions is the traditional area most people think about. And this can be an area that leads to freedom right away. With each possession we have a the requirement of maintaining it. This maintenance can be more oppressive than the possession is worth. And we often don't realize it.

One way to simplify up front is to minimize spontaneous buying. This is one area I have really worked on and it has been totally worth it. I surf the web A LOT and when I find something I want, I put it in the shopping basket but NEVER buy it then. I wait at least a couple of days and think about whether I want it and how I will use it. If, after a couple of days, I still want it and I think I will use it and that the value is good, I will go back and look at it and read about the item to see if I notice anything I missed before. Sometimes, I have the wrong size, color or the description doesn't attract me as much. Maybe I was hungry or tired the day I found it. Maybe I thought I needed another pair of pants but looked in my closet and found a pair I didn't remember I had. Things change and I change. And sometimes those changes affect purchases. I have found that I appreciate more the things I do buy. I have a lot less stuff around my house that I don't use and I have more money.

More traditionally, simplifying usually involves getting rid of possessions. Again, I never get rid of things in one day. I have a pile in the basement of things I may want to get rid of. Then I wait a few days or weeks before actually giving them away or donating them. For me, books are an issue. I love books. And when I was spontaneously purchasing books, I had up to 30 books that I purchased but hadn't read yet. And some of them I didn't want to read any more. Right now, I have over 100 books in my Save For Later area of Amazon. When I think about getting rid of books, I usually put them in my basement for several weeks and go down several times to make sure I still want to get rid of them. Sometimes I remove them, most of the time I leave them.

Many of us, me included, are emotionally attached to our possessions that require time to grieve losing. That's okay. Because once I no longer have the possessions (usually books) I feel lighter, less weighed down and more free.