Let it GO! Decluttering (simplifying) your life of (people, places or things) success stories?

150poundsofme wrote: »

There are so many different charity trucks that will come right to your house and pick up your clothes etc. Plus I have given away clothes and stuff to friends. I don't feel bad about releasing these things because I know someone else can use it. Over a year ago I detoxed from a friend and didn't shed one tear. She was a liar and troublemaker so good riddance to bad rubbish. Went through all the kids' old toys etc. and donated so much. I still have more stuff to do in the house. One thing I can't seem to shake yet are magazines. I cannot stop tearing out articles, recipes, drug store finds etc. Those make the biggest mess in my house. I was only allowing myself to read Us/People or Readers Digest but find I am still tearing out stuff like the jokes from Readers Digest. I am trying to same magazines when I go on vacation only so they are sitting in a pile. But sometimes I do grab one. I do find them relaxing to read and I do find some interesting articles or helpful hints...so still need help with that.

What a WINNER you are--YAY YOU! That you are seeing/recognizing the magazine issue is tremendous. If you have one of these smart-phone or camera--you can always take a pic of the articles/jokes, etc. and make a file/folder and put them on your computer and toss those paper ones out and BOOM...no more excess mags hanging around collecting dust and you can look at the articles and things whenever you want to. In any case, you ROCK, period.

SueM123456 wrote: »

serendipity22 wrote: »

I cleaned and organized my apartment before I left for vacation. I got back yesterday. It was so nice to walk into a clean apartment.

My house used to look like a tornado had been through when I left for a holiday ..... until I got a cat and my neighbour was going to be coming in to feed him while I was away. I left the house spotless and it was so nice to come back to I still do it even if no-one else will see it.

This made me smile from ear to ear! YAY YOU! I have a good friend who uses a maid service, and sometimes I come over and she's cleaning furiously and tells me she has to clean up fast, because the maid service is coming over tomorrow. I LOVE her!!!!

Orphia wrote: »

Hi all! Haven't been keeping up in here, but thought of you all when reading this:

Fast fashion: Should we change how we think about clothes?

SO insightful!

I lost 80 lbs and have kept it off over 3 years, and I bought the dress when I was a bit bigger, but it's white cotton lace stretch, and it does fit in all the right places.

ALWAYS bringing something to the table so GOOD to chew and food for thought as well. Thanks O!

Madwife2009 wrote: »

Orphia wrote: »

So many times I see ridiculous heels in obscure colours in the windows of second-hand shops and think "What a waste," even then, and doubt they'd even get re-used once more.

I see these and think, "WHY???". My friend has millions of shoes (or so it seems) which are piled up everywhere. Admittedly, she has a husband who runs (a lot) and two children but they seem to have an awful lot of shoes. Whereas I have two pairs - my running shoes and my regular shoes. One of my sons and one of my daughters also have two pairs and the other three members of my family have just one pair of shoes each.


But, back to de-cluttering.

I have decluttered my front garden and most of the back garden over the last two days. The back garden had become a bit of a glory hole but most of it is taking it's final journey tomorrow to the dump.

Happy days!

You ROCK, period. I was your definitely like your friend not too long ago and it's so, ummmmm, tough to "see" the problem--so tough, I'm so grateful and GLAD I'm no longer in/at that seemingly nice/cool/so-called "blessed" place of having just wayyyy too much "stuff", because all that "stuff" is a dark, confusing, messy, OVERWHELMING and scary place. I simply MUST and want to give God ALL the glory, honor and praise for opening my eyes and letting me see that the excessive excess and just mountains of "stuff" is not only unnecessary, but also a TRAP/SNARE and giving place to lack of self-control and contentment and appreciation with what I have and worse, only gave me a hunger for more and more (A.K.A. GREED/guttony and yuck) --Wow, so GLAD to be delivered from that (expensive and cluttered lifestyle) "mess". It's a on-going thing though--keeps me humble and accountable to God as well. I LOVE that!

Honey, you GO getting your yards, super {{{ Hugs and the highest of fives to/for you }}}} I KNOW what it's like to get those yards/gardens/outside house stuff. It's HARD and a lot of work, but once it's done, the maintenance is far easier and the looks of it all is just plain YES!

aroze0928 wrote: »

I do enjoy combing through this thread once in a while. You guys have some good ideas. As for today I recycled jars from the fridge. Salad dressing I tried once..things that I know I'll never use again and it feels pretty good. Seems so minor and comical but a good 7 jars out of my way and I feel refreshed.

Hi!!!!!
YAY YOU, that's so tremendous--that you threw down the gauntlet with the jars and tossed them to GET OUTTA HERE land is wonderful, again...YAY YOU. Keep up the great job!

fitchick37 wrote: »

Today I'm going to make a little start. I've got a wardrobe full of UK 18s and I'm a UK 20 so my first little goal is to get in to those. But I want to sort them out, sort all the cute 50s vintage style stuff out as I love that and put them where I can find them. I'm slowly building a little confidence to relaunch myself on the world as 50s pinup.

LOVE your user name and post--YAY YOU!!!!! Thanks so much for contributing to this thread.

RubyRed427 wrote: »

Hi Friends,
I'm settling into my new apartment. I am keeping it clean because I live alone now. All my workload is so much lighter, but I still treasure all the days I spent with my kids running around and cleaning and playing with them. They're all grown and son is interning somewhere else, so my daughter comes by to hang out once in awhile. Anyway, Even now, I have a closet that really needs decluttering. The rest of my place is organized. It was hard to condense 24 years of belonging into the closets and apartment I am now in. I'll make progress. I also have to let things go even if they're perfectly good items. I think I'll go online to see where I can donate all my rubber stamps and ink I just won't every use.

I'm catching up the on the thread. I haven't been on in a month. Congrats to @NewLIFEstyle4ME - you are amazing!!! An inspiration! I want to be a size 6 but I have been a size 10 for three years now. (down from size 14). I think I need to change things up a little.

Ruby Red...I think about you often and I want you to know that I admire you so much. Your "way" is so very, ummmm...elegant and humble and so very gracious. I just love you and please know that the new "road" that you are traveling is going to bring you such good things! Becoming "single" and living on your own after 24 years is definitely going to be an "adventure" for you, but I just know with all of my heart that things are going to bring you such peace and joy and LOVE too. {{{{{{ HUGS }}}}}} You are a super strong and amazing woman and again, I admire/respect/appreciate you so much, you strong and courageous winner you!

Your new pic looks fabulous honey and I applaud you for choosing NEW LIFE...WOW, not many people have the heart to make a new start, you're my shero, period. Thanks so much for posting and PLEASE, when you can post more often we/I love and miss(ed) you.

RubyRed427 wrote: »

@NewLIFEstyle4ME Thanks for your beautiful, inspiring words. You are my inspiration. I am very proud of you too! Your thread is a life saver to me and many others. I had my 24th wedding anniversary yesterday and it felt like pressure building all day long. I wanted to explode or panic. But I watched a very inspiring movie (French film with subtitles) called The Intouchables. Sometimes it is meaningful to lose yourself in a film, and remind yourself your life is perfect the way it is! I am living proof that the quote "It takes 30 seconds of incredible courage to change you life" is very true.

Now, I need to focus on ME. Sweep guilt under the rug, leave some positive mantras on sticky notes around the apartment and meditate more. I am approaching 50th birthday in a week, and that seems like more pressure on me. I don't know why. Because I am blessed to be 50 and to be healthy and have a healthy family. Blessings abound.

Next week, I will continue to tackle the clutter in my closet. I will get my new table delivered and won't be eating off a little bench on the floor. But even those little things make life charming. Eating like a child on the living room floor will make a good memory. I am off topic by rambling about my life changes but thanks for listening and being a friend to me and many. I love you!!

Wow...Thank you Red for this--you're words have brought joy and POWER into my heart and mind! I so know that "explode and panic" feeling/spirit...for you to have choked/strangled it and then kick it in the head and stomp on it's neck, by giving yourself over to an inspirational movie instead of "nursing, petting and embracing" those god-awful feelings/emotions of dread is more wonderful than can be expressed by words. I use "violent and contemptuous" words/thoughts for those "REAL feelings/spirits" because they are sheer unadulterated toxic yuck that have the uncanning ability to pull you into it's YUCK and cause all kinds of UGH and woe is me. YAY YOU, winner. Also, I LOVE silent movies and foreign subtitle movies and haven't heard of this one and am looking forward to checking it out.

See...it's stuff like:
" Sometimes it is meaningful to lose yourself in a film, and remind yourself your life is perfect the way it is! I am living proof that the quote "It takes 30 seconds of incredible courage to change you life" is very true."
AND
"Next week, I will continue to tackle the clutter in my closet. I will get my new table delivered and won't be eating off a little bench on the floor. But even those little things make life charming. Eating like a child on the living room floor will make a good memory."
That MAKES me admire you so much--once more YAY YOU, cause that kinda thinking and doing makes for a more POWERFUL and WISER you. I LOVE power and wisdom so much. I love that you're not "ignoring" these real and d@amable" feelings/emotions/spirits and let me add memories--we can tend to put TOO MUCH power/feelings in memories and a LOT of times the memories are LIES or ummmm, FANTASIES and it's so important to have memories but NOT TO ALLOW memories to HAVE YOU. Your acknowledging them (the dread/woe/TEMPTATION to fret/worry/fear/be anxious or the SAD and then kicking their BUTT and making them say "uncle" and leave you alone (at least for now and when (not if) but when they come back, kick them to the curb with REALITY and TRUTH some more and little by little the pain/confusion/fear/UGH will completely hit the road never to return, but it will take time of course. Your turning the big 5.0 is going to bring some of the BEST times of your life, I just know it.

There is a place for sadness, but a lot of times sadness is the ultimate ENEMY and best friend of fear, woe, and a lot of other YUCK. After ALL these years of being on this earth, I am just recently learning that sadness is NOT my friend, it's an ENEMY to me now and how I have grown so much stronger by no longer "embracing sadness" the same with offense and worry/fretting--these are enemies of mine that God Himself is teaching to to not only reject, but to actually HATE and when (not if, but when) they (sadness/fear/worry, etc.) tries their d$mnest to INFLUENCE and OVER-TAKE ME to reject them immediately by putting on thankfulness, gratefulness and power of LOVE of TRUTH!

Here's to your upcoming birthday and CHEERS and HIP HIP HURRAY for you. I'm not a believer in age doesn't matter-I believe age DOES matter, but I'm older than 50 and I don't feel a day over, ummmmm, 20-25 for real--I "feel" so much younger than being a senior citizen, but at the same time, I EMBRACE being an older women--I LOVE being an older woman so much. I LOVE how you see reaching 50 is a HUGE blessing and just your overall attitude is so, ummmmm, perfect ( perfect to me means MATURE). How adorable about your eating on the floor and remembering when you were young, that's adorable and I like the way you think. How FUN it's going to be for you to do whatever you jolly well feel like doing/being/living and no longer have to feel like a "bump on the log", going along to get along, just existing instead of really living or invisible or whatever the REAL issue was before you so wisely left/got your own place. Girlfriend, you're getting ready to live like you haven't been able to in 24 years--I just know it. Lastly, always remember, loneliness is OVER-RATED, many people have relationships and around a multitude of peoples all the time and are lonely as "hell" literally. Lonliness is a time of growth, maturity, activity and time to think about and give yourself over to learning a lot of new things. Again, loneliness is something hollywood and the "world" tries it's d@mnest to get you/us to try to avoid, but the truth is some of the greatest things in/on this earth were discovered and created by someone being lonely and instead of them drowning in loneliness, they took that time to do something wonderful.



As you said, this is time for YOU, getting to know and experience YOU like never before--I'm here for you if you ever need anything, okay beloved! {{{ Hugs}}}


P.S. EVERYTHING I'm writing to you...I'm talking to/about myself as well--just FYI my friend!