In our Third Act of Life (defined as ages 60-90), I believe it becomes necessary to get down to the basics when it comes to our possessions. For example, you may look around your home right now and discover several things you no longer need or want.
Now is the time to reduce your inventory. It is time to stop accumulating and start de-accumulating!
You never know when you will have to downsize and move into a smaller dwelling, so why not begin paring down now?
Even if you don’t want to move right now, it will benefit you to start paring down your possessions. Ask yourself: Could my life be more manageable and less complicated if I got rid of some of this stuff I have collected over all these years?
You may find like I have, that less stuff does equal more joy!
It will simplify your life.
You will have less to manage.
It will make it easier to get around.
It will make it easier to locate items.
It will make more room in your life for joy.
And don’t we all need this in our senior years?
In her book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, the author states:
“Aging is certainly not for weaklings. That is why you should not wait too long to start your downsizing. Sooner or later, you will have your infirmities, and then it is damn nice to be able to enjoy the things you can still manage to do without the burden of too many things to look after and too many messes to organize.”
She also writes:
“A loved one wishes to inherit nice things from you. Not all things from you.”
Some questions to ask yourself:
How many winter hats and scarves do you need?
How many shoes do you need?
How many writing pens do you need?
How many socks or underwear do you need?
How many cleaning products do you need?
How many pieces of jewelry do you need?
How many purses do you need?
How many shopping bags do you need?
How many sets of dishes do you need?
How many pots/pans do you need?
How many water bottles do you need?
How many seasonal decorations do you need?
How many spices do you need?
How many coffee mugs do you need?
How many pictures on the wall do you need?
How many sets of sheets do you need?
How many towels and washcloths do you need?
How many food storage containers do you need?
How many books do you need?
How many makeup/toiletry items do you need?
The above list of questions is by no means complete. It is merely some questions to get you to think about needs versus wants.
Do you have an excess of any of these items?
If so, start there in your decluttering process.
Think about when you pack for a 2-week trip away from home. First, you get down to the basics, then You manage to pack just what you need as far as your clothes, shoes, and makeup go – so let this be your guide in your thinking process.
If you are collecting things, ask yourself why? Is it for fun? Why is it fun? Who is it benefiting?
What do you have too many of? I would love to hear your answers.