I do not know why I have had, and still have, so much stuff. I am still cleaning out and finding all kinds of things, many of which I do not want to part with. While I haven’t yet conquered the “having too much stuff” demon, I have made a decision about not bringing any more stuff into our home. There is just no room, and we do not need much of what we have. Bear with me as I discuss this in a little more detail.

One of my habits is making notes on random pieces of paper. While cleaning out some tote bags today (of which I have too many!) I found a couple of pieces of paper with notes on them. One of them had these words: “Spending money, time, and energy on things we don’t need.” There is no caption to this, just those words. If those words did have a caption, it could be this: “What is something you want to change?”

The other sentence on this piece of paper is: “Fill up your space as the need arises. Be ok with space being empty.” Wow; powerful. And I believe Heaven sent. This is a message I need at this time in my life.

The other piece of paper has these words:“ Competencies: Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Self-Motivation, Empathy, and Effective Relationships.” All of these relate to the individual self. The first three; Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, and Self-Motivation are related to our behavior with ourselves, and the last two, Empathy and Effective Relationships, relate to our behavior with others. All five are necessary behaviors for us to possess to be effective.  

Now, what do the random thoughts on the two pieces of paper have to do with my decision to not bring anything else into our home? The first piece of paper mentioned is obviously a close connection, especially the part about being okay with space being empty. And if I do not spend money, time, and energy on things we don’t need, I will be practicing Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, and Self-Motivation.

Now, before I make a promise that I can’t keep, I will add one qualifier. I may, note I say “may,” not “will,” bring something into our home, but only if something goes out. Then again, I may not, for what we have is really fine; we do not need anything else.

Have empathy for me on this journey. It is not easy.