May 28, 2020
Day 28 I’m a Packrat!
I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time dealing with my “stuff”. Set aside my emotions and ambitions and yep you have me and my stuff. I used to observe my mother in law and always thought she had her “stuff” together. She had a routine, never laid anything down and never kept more than was necessary. She was meticulous in keeping herself and her home in order.
when we moved into her house after her passing roughly 3 years ago, my thoughts were how hard would it be to keep her house like she kept it? I found out it wasn’t that simple. I was not raised like she was raised. I did not learn what she learned over the years. And last but not least there is, and will only be, one of her not two.
I come from a family of packrats. I only know the true extent of this because my sister and I literally went through all of our parents “stuff” to downsize and move them into a condo. Only to turn around in 2 ½ years and go through everything that didn’t get gone through the first time. Let me insert here, mom and dad had my grandma and grandpa’s stuff as well as my great aunts stuff which I still have some of that to through too. Ugh! You would think I would have learned a valuable lesson. I can be a terribly slow learner. Sometimes I don’t think I really care. Then I had a day like today when it was time to clean the basement. I had been putting it off for a rainy day and so today was the day. It dawned on me, yep I save way too much “stuff”.
You never know when you might need that. Someday I’ll get around to using that. And then all the projects and nifty ideas... sometimes some day never comes. And so I learn to part with it, what ever” it” is.
Yes, I’m a packrat. I keep way too many things. Some times I just don’t want to deal with making a decision in what to keep and what to get rid of. I’m learning to be happy and content with who I am and try not to be hard on myself and others. Life is too short to spend all of it keeping my stuff in order. I guess its a form of job security? Always having something to do. I will continue to make changes, move things on, toss things out and focus more on enjoying each day to the fullest with no regrets.