Now that 2 different people have commented that I haven’t blogged lately……I am SHOCKED that it’s been so long since I’ve posted. Please forgive me for my terrible lapse in blogging. How did this happen? Hmmmmmm……
How timely for me that in this month’s AARP newsletter, there is a wonderful list from Gail Blanke, the author of “Throw Out 50 Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life” that I’m happy to share with you. Gail encourages us to ‘throw out 50 things from your home — and from your mind.’
Here goes:
1. Magazines more than 3 months old. They’re fire hazards.
2. Old receipts clogging the kitchen drawer. You know that drawer.
3. Keys that seem to have no locks. Haven’t had for years. Maybe decades.
4. The belief that you’re alone.
5. Twisty ties, random paper clips and safety pins.
6. Loose change (recycle!).
7. Trying to please everyone.
8. Containers of partially used grooming products untouched for 6 months.
9. Makeup in shades you no longer wear or can’t be found in nature.
10. List your insecurities – and toss 75% of them.
11. Put yourself down.
12. The need for everyone to like you.
13. Old athletic shoes with worn treads (recycle!).
14. Medicines for conditions you no longer have (Your pharmacy can dispose of them).
15. Jumping to negative conclusions before you know the real deal.
16. Mismatched silverware or dishes.
17. Banged-up pots.
18. Stale spices and ingredients.
19. Thinking you’re always right.
20. Training wheels. (Your son is 38, right?)
21. T-shirts from the company outing that you grudgingly attended 2 weeks before you were canned.
22. The times you messed up.
23. The need to know how it all turns out.
24. Plastic garden pots.
25. Dried-up tubes of glue. Dried-up anything, really.
26. A single sock, glove or earring. Its mate is not coming back.
27. Thinking you have to have all the answers.
28. People who remember the bad times, not the good ones.
29. Sheets, towels or pillows that are torn, chewed or just bum you out.
30. Old college furniture.
31. Wire clothes hangers.
32. Clothes that no longer fit.
33. Clothes from a departed loved one. Someone else needs them now.
34. Thinking that if you let go of the memorabilia, you’ll lose the memories.
35. Souvenirs from bad vacations.
36. Old parking tickets.
37. Bank statements, unless you need them for tax purposes. Shred.
38. Bills more than one year old. Keep shredding.
39. Fear that you’re not rich enough, smart enough, good enough.
40. Energy-sucking comparisons with other people.
41. Playing the same music over and over.
42. Feeling that your life is a movie you’re watching instead of starring in.
43. The belief that your best days are behind you.
44. Books that you’ll ‘get to someday.’
45. Waiting for the right moment.
46. Eating the same food.
47. Fear of looking foolish.
48. The adage “no one is indispensable.” Everyone counts.
49. Negative typecasting.
50. Anything you don’t want to pass on to your children — from worn out rugs to worn out grudges.