The final step in clutter clearing is letting go of what you no longer need or want. Many people get stuck at this point. Don’t let that happen to you.
For some people, decluttering their home is a simple matter. After deciding what to keep and what to let go, they then make decisions about whether to donate things to charity, give them away, sell them, send them for recycling, and so on.
But others hit a brick wall about the choices involved, which can seriously derail the whole process. It can mean that boxes or bags of clutter may never leave their home. The items remain in a state of limbo, waiting for decisions to be made.
These four changes in standpoint will help you to let go of things more easily:
1. Perfection is not required
If it matters to you that the things you let go of will be loved and appreciated by someone else, don’t fall into the trap of spending days, weeks, months, or sometimes years waiting until you find the perfect person to gift each item to. That will put your own life on hold. Donate your things to charity so that the right person can find them sooner rather than later.
2. Stop micro-managing
Striving for control is hardwired into our evolutionary makeup because the more in control of our life and environment we are, the more likely we are to survive. However this can easily cross the line into neurotic behaviour if you try to micro-manage everything. It creates an unnecessary level of stress for you and those around you. And it’s futile, in any case, because control is an illusion.
A wiser approach to the urge to control is to develop the ability to actively navigate through life with more awareness. Cultivate the discernment to make better choices about what you acquire, and be flexible enough to move and change with the times. That’s far more empowering, a lot less stressful, and will give you a much greater sense of achievement in the end.
3. Follow the natural cycle
The human body is designed to eat, digest, and excrete. Life works best when our relationship to material possessions follows a similar path: acquire, use, and then let the item go.
If you try to hold on to things you acquire, it creates a constipation in your home and your life, which is not a normal or healthy behaviour.
4. Understand that you own nothing
You are born with nothing and you can’t take any of your material possessions with you when you die. Even if you leave a will saying what you want to happen to your stuff, you won’t care a jot about it after you’ve left your body. We all come from spiritual realms and return to spiritual realms. Any attachment we have to material things while you are here will quickly fade after you die.
So stop agonizing over what happens to each thing you own after you’ve finished with it. It’s been yours for a while and now it’s someone else’s turn, or perhaps it’s time for it to return to the earth. Sell it, donate it, gift it, recycle it, or whatever you like, but don’t let it linger.
Letting go creates space for something new to come into your life. Let go of the past, embrace the future, and move on.
Copyright © Clear Space Living Ltd 2023
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Karen, I follow your blog and this is the best article ever. I especially like #3! I do not have much trouble getting rid of stuff and I am not cluttered except for undone projects. I get through them in spurts which I am currently experiencing — great feeling!