The Purge

As soon as the idea became a plan, we began eliminating all things unnecessary. We call it “The Purge.” We started with phase one, which was getting rid of everything we didn’t care about. The kids did awesome. All around the house we started tossing, donating, or selling things. About a month later we moved on to phase two, getting rid of things we could live without. Again, the kids did great and the purge continued. We had garage sales and sold things on Offer Up and Craigslist until I began to lose my love for my fellow man. I don’t know what’s worse, selling things online or having an actual garage sale, but I’ll save that for another day. In October, we put our house on the market and began the third phase of the purge; getting rid of everything except what we felt we could not live without. We handed the kids each a storage container (about 12″x18″) and a cardboard box. Everything they wanted to take with them went in the container, everything else into the box (or boxes, depending on the kid) for long-term storage. They looked at us like we were crazy but they went along with it like the troopers they are. It’s amazing, and even embarrassing, the amount of stuff we own that we don’t actually need or even use!

There are two types of people in the world: the organized and the unorganized. No matter which category you fall into, you always feel the need to organize more… am I right?! Not anymore. My motto now is to stop organizing and start eliminating! It is so freeing, I cannot even begin to tell you how much lighter life feels. As my cupboards became more and more bare, I realized I didn’t actually miss anything. Why did I have all this stuff?! I could cook dinner just fine with one set of measuring cups, why did I have two and a half sets of them? The clothes, the shoes, the toys, the odds and ends we keep “just in case.”  It’s kind of exhausting if you think about it. I challenge you to choose a room or a closet or a cupboard and just give eliminating a try. It’s so much fun, I promise! The more you examine the things in your life, the more you realize that most of it is just a distraction. Busyness keeps us occupied with unimportant things at the expense of those most important things… the ones who call us mom or dad, or nana or papa, or friend. A lot of times it feels like our kids are distracting us from the task at hand, but how eye opening it is to realize we have it all backwards and all our “to-dos” often times distract us from enjoying life, our kids, and even our Father! We have committed to each other to never acquire so many things ever again, I truly hope we never go back.

Oh, and if you think there are only 3 phases to the purging process, don’t be surprised when you hit phases 4 and 5. Consider this a warning, it can be addicting. Even now I find myself looking around for something to get rid of…