Why is it so hard to trow away things?

Question

And how can this be made easier? I really have a problem with trowing away things, even if I don't need them and I haven't used or even looked at them for years! Any ideas?

Answer 1

The "things" we save are the artifacts of our lives.
Let's say a giant volcanic eruption covered you right now in your home just like Pompei.

If an archaeologist were to dig up your house 3,000 years from now, the way they would know who you were, what you found beautiful, what you believed in and how you lived would be to go through your grabage and what you kept around you.

We often save things and have trouble parting with things because they are PROOF that we lived. PROOF that we had good taste ( well, at least we think we did). PROOF that you loved and were loved.

A very weird guy I dated long, long ago said this to me and it;s stayed with me for more than 30 years, " Real power is being able to stand on a busy corner naked, waiting for no one."

Yeah, I said the same thing the first time I heard it. But think about it. There you are...no designer jeans, no business card, bno cell phone connecting you to your "network" of friends and family, no daytimer telling you what to do with your day today, just you and YOU are enough.

And that is the key word in the "saving things" drama...ENOUGH.

One day, you will look around at all the stuff you save and you will realize that you have ENOUGH. In fact, you may have way too much and all that stuff is bogging down your life. That is the day you will literally, clean house. Down to the minimum. Start all over again and figure out who you really are without all this stuff.

Here's another weird but wonderful oldsaying- this one a Chinese saying-

"Now that my barn has burned down, I can clearly see the moon."

Can you see the moon from behind your stuff?

Answer 2

I've dealing with the same trouble of trying to be rid of stuff. My stuff is 35 yrs of accumulation of things that bring me memories or smiles or someone special gave to me. That's my first excuse - I LOVE my stuff and have a personal relationship with it. My second excuse is that maybe all these things I have help me identify who I am and represent me. Third, when I was very young and first got married I had 2 small boxes that held the contents of all that I owned. Literally. It took such a long time to amass the things I needed let alone wanted. I had been poor and I KNOW what it feels not to have something so maybe I'm thinking that it is the insecurity. Lastly I feel that so many people, places, and things were lost to me (or taken away) before I was ready and it made me feel so out of control - maybe holding on to this stuff is making me feel some kind of control over my life. And if anyone needs something they come to me because they know I'll have it! :) So it makes me popular that way. I'm seeing some real positives for keeping my stuff! lol
Sorry to make this all about me - I'm just trying to relate and trying to share to see if maybe you feel the same way.
My suggestion is that you put into a box things that are your very favorites and that you love and save it. Then go back and prioritize what you need and want. When you have a box of stuff sitting for 3 or 4 months look at it again and see if you can still part with it.
It makes it not feel so final as the three piles idea. Although that is much more efficient, I have a lot of trouble trying to do that.
I'm afraid I didn't help but tried to comfort you instead. I have been battling my "Stuff Love" for years!! I figured if I understood what made me get the stuff to begin with, I'd learn why I am so connected to it so I can let it go.
Good luck to you!

Answer 3

"Hey Karina A!
You don't have any kind of problem! It is necessary to keep things for a good while. Never know when you might need it again. My only clean up comes about every 5 or 10 years and I hardly throw things away even then. I like my old stuff!
Of course, maybe the house gets cluttered some. I've used some of the old stuff again and again and I don't plan to get rid of anything except papers. Even then it takes me a long time."

Answer 4

Get you a partner who won't put up with you being a pack rat. My wife does the same thing, and I hate it! She saves everything!!! If I didn't go through the stuff and throw out the mess, we wouldn't be able to walk in the house. This is a disorder caused usually by not having things as a child and when you get older you have things, and don't want to let go of them because of this. You can overcome this, but I'm not sure how, because it will overtake you if you don't learn to say good bye to the majority of the junk you collect. Have Fun!!

Answer 5

I think it is because we got them as a gift or we spent good money on them and are afraid we might use or need them again. I have had that happen, barely get rid of something and then have to re buy it!! I usually don't get rid of things, I have yard sales, then I am getting money back for items. I am an older lady and I will make a pile of things I no longer want and ask my children and grandchildren if they would like any of it, if they take it I am happy, if they don't I put it in a yard sale. We have so many BIG items that we rarely use, like big bowls, big pots and large trays the girls were very happy to inherit!!!!!!

Answer 6

I know I know, last year my New Year's resolution was to cut down my possessions by 80%. First I started with one room. Put everything on the floor and had three piles. Keep. Throw out. Sell/give away. I had to be ruthless. It took me nine months but happy to say I now have 20% of what I used to have. To keep it that way, I throw out two things for any one thing I buy.

Answer 7

Firstly please learn how to spell its throwing and yes this is one of lifes mysterys even the smallest most useless thing ever is hard to THROW away. What you really need is to bribe a good friend who knows the things you should keep and stuff you shouldnt and let them help you, hire a big bin and there you go
GOODLUCK

Answer 8

Trow: to trust, believe.

So in order to trow things away you need to believe they don't exist until they actually disappear.

I can see how that can be pretty difficult.

Answer 9

A couple things:

1)Have a friend help you, one who can talk you out of keeping so much
2)start with three piles, keep, throw out and then a third to either sell or donate, and then try to half your keep pile
3)start small, when i was trying to downgrad my life, instead of looking at the whole basement, every weekend i picked one shelf to go through, it seemed much less overwhelming

Answer 10

At some point of the emotinal scale(Tone Scale), people like to be among matter!
They like solid objects around, cannot stand without, although they suffer from!
So, start (try) getting rid of very small unuseful items, at first, no matter what, and then
move to heavier ones! Good luck!

Ciao.....John-John.