A few months ago, I wrote a blog entitled Some Thoughts About the Little Foxes in which I talked about how I'm trying to get rid of bad habits and unhelpful routines that were no big deal of and by themselves, but when I added them all up, they were having a very negative impact on my life. I have continued to try to get rid of these bad habits and have had a fair amount of success. But I'm also trying to expand this concept into the realm of physical objects and stuff I have in my home.
Most people only ever do this when they're getting ready to move to a new home, but although I know we'll be moving out of this apartment we're in now someday, it's unlikely to be in the immediate future. However, experience tells me that it's never a bad time to shed excess stuff, or as it's sometimes called, declutter.
The last time we moved, from our old apartment into this one, I started the process of sorting and packing about four months before the last day we would be in that old apartment, thinking this would be plenty of time. It turned out to be woefully inadequate, and in the last two weeks I was forced to stop being careful and just throw everything into boxes to get it ready to move across town, so a LOT of unnecessary clutter ended up being brought from that apartment to this one.
Brothers and sisters, I urge you to learn from my mistakes. If you're going to be moving in a year or less, start the sorting and packing up process NOW!
Once again, although we're not moving any time soon, I have been utterly astounded at all the stuff I've already found, just in a few short weeks, that I could get rid of. Most of this stuff had been relevant at one time, but it is no longer relevant to my life, and keeping it in my home was just making it more difficult for me to keep the things that ARE relevant to my life organized and accessible when I need them.
This has included a great deal of the stuff that was in the room where my sons sleep that we could have, and SHOULD have, gotten rid of years ago. It included lots of toys, games, puzzles, books, clothes and other stuff that they outgrew a long time ago that's just been sitting there, taking up space in the closets, for years. Needless to say, there's also plenty of that kind of thing in my own closet, or rather there was before I started going through it all.
That brings me to the most important point in this blog, and that is the way I decided what I would keep and what I would get rid of.
You've probably heard of the KonMari Method for decluttering one's life. It is the product of a Japanese lady name Marie Kondo and the centerpiece of this method is to hold every object you own in your hands and only keep it if it "sparks joy" in your heart and mind. If this method of sorting stuff works for you, I won't try to talk you out of it.
But in my own experience, a better question to ask is "is this relevant to my life in the present and does it help me or hold me back from building the future I want to live in"?
I know that's not as catchy or concise as "does it spark joy" but I think it's more helpful.
For instance, one thing that I've had in my home for many years is a football helmet that I wore when I was playing in the Israel Football League. There were lots of great memories associated with that helmet, so it had been sitting up on top of my bookcase in the living room for all these years since I retired from playing.
But as I looked up at it a few days ago, I realized that football is part of my past, and I've got plenty of pictures in my photo album that remind me of those good times and the friends I made. So I didn't need to keep that old helmet to remind me of that stuff.
So, even though looking at that helmet DID "spark joy" in my heart, it isn't relevant to my future, so it was time for it to go.
This is a good place to mention that I don't think "sentimental value" is a good reason to keep something. I know there are those who will disagree, but that's my opinion.
Another thing I had in my home that did NOT "spark joy" was a gift that my Russian-born sister-in-law gave me for the first birthday I celebrated after I started dating her sister, who would eventually become my wife.
My sister-in-law didn't know much about me back then, in fact almost the only thing she knew about me that would be helpful in picking a birthday present for me was that I had grown up in a country called the United States of America. So she got me something that she'd heard Americans like. As it happened, I didn't like it at all, but of course, I pretended to be overjoyed at receiving it and I'd kept it all these years because I felt bad about getting rid of it. It HAD been a gift, after all, and I love my sister-in-law dearly, and so I felt obligated to keep this gift, which she'd obviously given me out of a sincere desire to help me enjoy my birthday.
But looking at it a few days ago, I realized this was simply ridiculous. That first birthday with my sister-in-law was literally a lifetime ago. She has probably forgotten all about giving me this gift and even if she does remember, she'd probably be shocked and amused to discover that I still have it. She certainly wouldn't make the mistake of getting me something like that these days, as she knows me much better now.
So, for all these reasons, it was foolish for me to feel obligated to keep it, and now it's gone.
There were many more things I was able to get rid of. I had several shoe boxes full of old birthday cards, postcards, programs to plays and concerts I'd been to, and such like. Once again, this stuff had long ago served its purpose and was no longer relevant to my life, so with a few exceptions for cards that had been given to me by someone who really meant something special to me or in which someone had written a message which was truly meaningful, it all went into the dumpster.
One birthday card in particular made me recoil in horror before ripping it up and throwing away the pieces. It was from someone who was in my life for awhile but it ended badly, making me wish I'd never met this person in the first place. Why on earth did I still have this souvenir from that bizarre and unpleasant episode in my life?
That brings me to another point, which is that as I got rid of these physical objects that were no longer relevant to my life and/or which "sparked" something very different from joy in my heart, I began to notice that I was also getting rid of a lot of negative feelings and memories. I once read a book by Bible teacher Derek Prince called "Blessing or Curse, YOU decide!" in which he describes how having physical objects in your home can serve to give permission to demons and evil spirits to enter into your life. Even if there's no demonic influence associated with something, it can just make it difficult for you to move on from negative experiences or feelings.
I'm not the most Charismatic person in the world, but this concept makes a lot of sense to me.
There's one last thing to mention about decluttering, and it goes like this.
One day, you will die, and someone will probably go through all your stuff. In fact, that might even happen before you die, for one reason or another.
Is there anything you wouldn't want people to find?
Is there anything that might allow the people you love to find out about something that wouldn't do them any good to find out about, but which would just be painful for them and possibly even prompt them to make some bad decisions of their own?
If so, get rid of it NOW!
Repent about anything that needs to be repented of, and then throw that junk in the dumpster!
That's what I've got for you this week brothers and sisters, I hope this blessed someone.