Keep Your Eye on the Prize

So you have decided to move into a smaller home. Now comes the challenge of what to take with you and what to let go of. Do you have heirloom china or maybe you have an excess amount of cookbooks and cooking magazines? Perhaps you have a garage full of unfinished projects that have ended up in the abyss of good intentions.

This was Dee’s challenge, she was moving across country from a 6,200 square foot house to a 3,000 square foot house to be closer to her son, grandchildren and great grandchildren. When deciding what to part with she found it difficult as she had many items that held sentimental value, she felt that parting with the items meant leaving the memories behind. I was able to help her realize that memories are things that are kept in your heart, not held in your hands. When Dee was struggling I helped her keep her eye on the prize. We would talk about what was more important, being close to her family or keeping her things.

As you work on downsizing, remember that you can take the memories without having to take all of the things.  Think outside of the box when deciding what to do with your things. One of my clients had nearly one hundred framed drawings from her great aunt. She had no place to put them on her walls but she didn’t want to get rid of them. I suggested that she take them all out of the frames and have them bound into a coffee table book. Something I run into often is grandmother’s china. No one wants to get rid of it and many children don’t want it because they are living a more simplistic lifestyle. If you can’t part with the china, I suggest you get rid of your daily dishes and use the china for every day. Enjoy it!  Keep focused on your “Prize” and the wonderful memories to come.