You're Winning Space by Losing Stuff

My friends at 365 Things recently posted about the strategy of Focusing on the Space as a way to keep the energy up if (and inevitably when) your delucluttering mission gets discouraging or the amount of stuff you have seems insumountable.

It's true that our belongings can define us sometimes or feel like a part of us; oftentimes not even because we love or like them but simply because they've been in our lives so long.

Decluttering and reducing the stuff in our lives can seem like a punishment because sometimes it's admitting to yourself that you made a poor purchase and getting rid of them seems like a huge loss: I know they don't fit well and I never wear them, but I paid so much for these shoes!

But that's not the whole picture.

You're not really losing a pair of shoes if you don't even wear them in the first place.

Because losing 1 bad pair of shoes actually makes you a winner in 3 ways:

1. It frees up a pair of shoes to someone who might love them
2. It frees up your mind from the sight of a bad pair of shoes that remind you of a bum purchase
3. It frees up precious closet space for a pair of shoes you love to wear which desserve to be there. (And if you're still on the hunt for the perfect pair of shoes, then you get to admire the empty, tranquil space which is also quite satifying.)

Focus on the gain, not the loss!