Trimming the Fat

My very cool sister-in-law sent me a link to her friend's blog who had written about her experience of selling most of what she and her family of four own so that they can make a huge move from Ithaca NY to Dubai UAE.

After reading about this real super woman's of trimming the fat, so to speak, and ridding herself of the added burden of unnecessary things I was inspired to share talk about it with you.

My husband and I have been trying to live more simply in the past year or so. We have come to the joint agreement that we never want to have a garage filled with everything but our cars, junk drawers, or black hole room that always seems to collect the miscellaneous items that have no home. We have no garage but we still have some junk that collects here and there and we have wanted to trim it out of our lives.

Last year we got rid of a lot... an AC unit, our microwave, our washer and dryer, my exercises bike, furniture, rugs, shelves, books, clothes, shoes, and a lot of other random things. We sold it all and made about a $1000 from our efforts which went to a new computer for my husband - a much smaller and much more needed item in our household. But we got a lot more that a Mac Book Pro out of the experience - we gained relief from the burden that those things were imposing on our lives.

It is a huge relief to get rid of something because it frees you
of your responsibility to care for it.

I heard a quote a while back that has really stuck with me:

"Less Space. Less Things. MORE Life!"

It makes complete sense. The less space you have and the fewer things you have in that space the more time you have to really enjoy life. Plus you end up having more resources for family vacations and enriching experiences because you aren't buying stuff that you don't really need, paying to fix stuff that isn't necessary, or having to take care or or store a bunch of things.

While living a simple, clutter-free existence sounds really appealing, it can be a real challenge to avoid getting sucked into consumerism - especially if you love getting a great deal. I have a few things that I do that have helped me.

1 - I try really hard not to buy anything unless I genuinely LOVE it.
Often times that means passing on the $12 shirt that is such a great deal because I know that I don't really love it. I know it will sit in my closet and rarely get worn because I loved the idea of a deal instead of loving what I bought. When I am unsure about a purchase I ask myself if I really love it and more often than not I leave the item behind because I don't really love it.

2 - I ask myself, "Where am I going to put this if I buy it?"
I have to be honest with myself about the space I have and if there is really a good home for it - because adding more stuff to a black hole room does not count as having a place for it.

3 - I remind myself of the vision I have for my home.
Keeping a vision in mind helps me avoid buying things that detract from my goal of having a peaceful, organized, streamlined home that is calm and serene. I remind myself of how I want to spend my time - with my family - not cleaning, fixing, and managing things.

Stuff just weighs us down, saps us of our energy, and steals our time away from what is truly important. It can be hard to resist the good deal, and for some it is a real challenge to let go of things (I personally find it invigorating and cathartic), but I believe it can be easier if we remember what we want a simpler life with more for the really important things.

When we choose less things we really do choose more life! I wish you the best of luck as you trim the fat and enjoy more life!

-Kristin

P.S. After returning from our summer internship and opening our storage unit, my husband and I were overwhelmed with how much stuff there was - even though we did get rid of a lot last year. We have decided to get rid of even more and will be working on simplifying our lives even further before we move again in four months. Wish us luck!

Using Your Past for Good

I have been thinking a lot about my high school days, which are becoming more distant than seems possible. I was wound up pretty tight.

- like tightly woven yarn -

I was a perfectionist that put a lot of pressure on myself to always have it together. I was afraid to relinquish control, my worry/anxiety, and the goal of perfection because I didn't know what would happen if I let myself unwind... I was afraid that I would completely unravel.

Looking back, I wish I would have been far more carefree and relaxed about life. I wish I would have taken things in stride a little better and worried a lot less. 16 year old's shouldn't worry like I did. Granted, I had some scary stuff going on because of my dad's health issues, but I wish I would have relaxed a lot more. I wish I would have been...

But we all know that we cannot change the past.
It is what it is and that is okay.
The best we can do is move forward while keeping the lessons from the past in our back pocket.

When I catch myself wishing that I would have worried less and relaxed more in high school, I change my mantra to, "Maybe I was a little too uptight in high school, but I am learning to be less wound up and more relaxed right now."

It is an empowering practice because I am acknowledging the reality of the past but I am also using it to help me move in a better direction instead of making myself feel badly about what I did or didn't do. It is such a beautiful and powerful thing to change a "should of, would of, could of" into a "Right now I am... improving, getting better, moving forward!"

We all have mistakes and moments in our past that we would like to have a do-over for, but time doesn't work that way. Instead, let's learn from those moments and use them as positive fuel to change and take the next step in our lives towards becoming real super women - which are simply women trying to become a better version of themselves (even though they are already pretty great).

Super Woman was on vacation

The super woman behind this blog went on vacation. Not literally, but mentally. You see I had all these great ideas about how this great idea of mine was going to work out. I envisioned all sorts of clever and inspirational posts about how great women are and how we all need to be nicer to ourselves and take a break now and then.

But I had to take a vacation before I had really even gotten started because I had placed a bit too much pressure on myself to perform like the superwoman in the comics. I was feeling a bit hypocritical and decided I needed some space away from my big idea so that I could come back to earth and start again - without all the self-inflicted pressure to be superwoman.

I am feeling more centered now and a lot less worried about how this whole thing pans out. Cause ideally I would love it if lots of women read my thoughts and felt better about themselves, but I am decided that I will be okay if just my best girlfriends read and feel better about themselves. But if you do like what you read, you can by all means pass the word along.

That is that. Now let's start again.

I had a super woman moment today. I remained calm (okay I was slightly frazzled) in the face of a big to do list of very important to dos, like finding a place to live in 11 days. I prayed hard, worked hard, and asked for support from the super man in my life. And I was able to conquer my natural man tendency to overreact and fall apart to some degree. I decided it was better to trust that things would work. If felt really good.

Have you had a super woman moment lately?