I was forty years old when I read this statement many years ago, and it struck me like a thunderbolt.  I got it!  Over the next couple of weeks, I had begun going through the things I had been accumulating since I was married.  I gave, sold or donated the things that were just taking up space in closets, dresser drawers and my garage.  That experience taught me the importance AND the un-importance of STUFF.  It freed me in a way that I never realized could be possible.Less is more, that’s for sure.  I have moved three times in the last eight years and because I have let things go along the way, I settled in each new place within a week or so.  Clutter can bog you down and I think it can actually take the oxygen out of the room and that can’t be a good thing if you need oxygen.

The amount of energy that people can put into their possessions is amazing.  Even the amount of stuff we women put in our purses and lug around with us is nuts unless you’re on “Let’s Make a Deal!”  But one good thing about a very heavy purse is you can always use it as a weapon if you need to!  For me, that’s the equivalent of dragging an anchor around.

I enjoy my family and friends because of all memories we shared together.  You can fill up hundreds of memory cards in your brain and access them anytime you wish and in any location.  Of course as we age accessing those memory cards can sometimes be problematic.  I think that’s why diaries were invented.

All my life, I have told people this; “If you’re not using it and don’t need it, give it to someone you love in your lifetime.  This way you get to see the joy it brings to the person you gift it to, and no one can dispute the gift after your death because you choose to give it in your lifetime.

In the end, the most precious we have, end up in a small box of things we treasure.  Mine are the notes and letters I have received over my lifetime.

PS: I have never been to a funeral where a Brinks truck backs up to a grave and dumps in a bunch of cash.  Have you?

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