Time to let go . . .

Do you ever find yourself hanging on to things for years and years . . . Clothes, books, bags . . . . well that's me! Over the weekend, I had a yard sale and I watched as people from all walks of life came by to look at all the things that I have accumulated over the years which apparently I grew not to have much use for. Now they were looking at them and contemplating whether they had a need for them.

So here's how my big weekend project went:

First, there were the 20 pairs of old running shoes that were worn out and why I kept them I have no idea. I wanted to throw them out, but my friend convinced me to sell them at the yard sale. I asked who would want to buy them? She said people will buy them! Well, she was right! I sold all the pairs of shoes. Of course I only sold them for a dollar :), but still they were among the first to go! Reminded me of Candi's photohunt picture and the old saying, "One Man's (or Woman's) Garbage is another Man's Treasure."

Next I had a huge box of these beautiful planter shells (brand spanking new)which my mom loved and left behind at my house. I could never bring myself to part with them, but with boxes of these shells and my decision to start as Annie said decluttering, I finally decided to let go! My goal was not to profit from them, but to make sure that someone who would appreciate them bought them. I sold them for $1.00 each. Three ladies came by and bought all 20 of them. And what was cool is they really loved them and thought they were so beautiful. Their delight made me feel so much better about letting them go.

And then, there were these two ladies that came by and they spent about an hour going through all my clothes. My friends and I were getting hungry so I went and got two pizzas and some salad and chicken wings and invited the two ladies to have lunch with us while they went through my clothes. It turns out that they were homeless only 4 years ago and the one lady is currently getting chemo and radiation for what was diagnosed as an inoperable cancer. My heart sunk and at that point I didn't even want to take their money, but I also didn't want to make them feel like they were a charity case either which I think would make them feel bad. So whenever they asked how much something was I told them it was a quarter. They were really nice and were so happy with the things they bought. And I was happy too.

And lastly, there were these two neighborhood girls who came by in their scooters who bought my brand new water fountain therapy thing for a dollar. They were so lively and I thought at that young age why would they need something that is meant to relieve stress? I had to remind myself that people just have different needs and look for different things. Maybe she just liked the sounds that a water fountain makes.

All in all, my big decluttering weekend made me $400.00, decluttered about 95% of what needed to be decluttered and reminded me of two things: First, life is way too short so live your life each day to the fullest, because you just never know what the future will bring. And secondly, although there are some things (special mementos, photos, etc) that I have to keep forever, there are also some things which I felt was time to let go of.

And the money I made . . . well, it will be going directly into my travel fund so I can use it doing something that I love to do, Travel!