Simplify

I have been purging some of my worldly goods lately. It seems that every year I go through "post-Christmas cleaning" rather than "spring cleaning". There's something about bringing the new IN that draws me to clean OUT the old. In doing this, I'm always surprised how much STUFF we have. I tend to be a bit of a minimalist, but still -- we have so much STUFF! Several years ago I came upon the real answer of "what do we do all day long?" The answer is -- we move STUFF around. The washing to the dryer to the clothes hamper to the drawers or closet to the laundry hamper and then all over again! We move food. We move goods. We move paper and books and toys. We move sheets and blankets and then put them back to rights. We move furniture to place more STUFF in. We move ourselves here, there, and everywhere. We move plants only to dig them up and move them to our kitchen stove. We even move information now in vastly different ways then 20 years ago!
Over this past year I've learned a valuable lesson --- people are more important than STUFF. As tempting as it is to want to keep our stuff nice, to move it around, to enjoy getting new STUFF -- in the end, it's just STUFF! Relationships with people are what really matter. Do yourself a favor as I have (and continue to do!) -- simplify your life by removing all the STUFF that you really don't need or use. Give it to someone who will. Recycle what you can. When all else fails -- throw it away. It's liberating and freeing to rid yourself of unneeded STUFF. To simplify your home, helps simplify your life. Spend time on what matters. Cherish each moment with your children and husband and family and close friends. Take time today to move some STUFF out of your life, and usher RELATIONSHIPS in.