Bad reasons why it is impossible to get rid of unnecessary things

Why is it so hard to get rid of the things we know should have throw away long time ago?

The topic is very timely, considering the pre-holiday cleanup. Also, most people who opt for minimalism start with cleaning. Home, closets, offices and so on. Most often, cleaning is done smoothly at the beginning. We feel free in our own way, maybe even happy. A new is coming. From time to time, however, we get our hands on something that we know we should get rid of. Meanwhile, we put it „for a while” to the next drawer, until it’s time to clean it up. And then we shove it to the next drawer and the next… But for sure there are more things like that, and at the end of a completely successful decluttering, we end up with a set of items that we don’t want to look at. Mostly, it’s not the first time they have been pushed around the house. On the one hand, we are tempted to get rid of them once and for all, on the other, suddenly, all of them are so necessary, and some invisible force prevents us from acting.

Probably most of you have these items. Things we can’t get rid of when we know we should. Or we would like to, but for some reason we fail.

Wrong reasons for not getting rid of unnecessary things

Reason # 1: What if it turns out to be useful someday

As a rule, anything can happen. But will it really? For several dozen giant bags with things that I got rid of from my previous apartment (i.e. probably several thousand items could fit there), I would need two in the last 4 years. Two. From a few thousand things. Marginal error, that statistics wouldn’t even show. If you don’t see now how useful this thing could be, then the probability of it happening in the future is close to zero.

Reason # 2: If I throw it out, it’s like I threw something/someone out of my memory

If it was this easy to get something out of memory, people wouldn’t spend years on psychotherapy. Tidying up the drawers would do. As we know, it’s not that easy. We remember many things that we would like to forget. This is proof that memories stay and we don’t need to keep material evidence for them if we don’t want to.

Reason # 3: How can I get rid of something that isn’t damaged after all

If you feel like getting rid of something and it’s not damaged, it’s a sign that you are not using it. And you probably will never use it. So take advantage of the fact that the item is in great condition and, for example, sell it. Or give it to someone. The thing that picks up dust at your place may be of a great use to someone else.

Reason # 4: I will throw away a gift and I will be caught

Why don’t people who give us unnecessary gifts have such hesitations when buying them? This is the real question! I have no other advice on this point, but to find some assertiveness and, if necessary, explain why you decided to say goodbye to something. Or just be clever not to get caught.

Reason # 5: I’m going to feel guilty

Feeling of guilt may be the result of the points above or, for example, result when you realize the fact of badly spent (and in this case wasted) money. Well. Whoever has never spent a penny will surely not waste anything. The rest of us have had more or less missed purchases, which you just have to get over. And not force yourself to find a use of it.

Reason # 6 It’s Too Early (It Has To Lay Down)

I do not know where the idea came from that something that we don’t need must lay its own time to be thrown away at last. Perhaps because we were taught in childhood that we only throw away old and unnecessary things – they must meet these two criteria at the same time. Well, it turns out that they don’t have to.

In fact, at some stage I was working on each of the above points. It was a torment, and I was relieved to let go of that thinking. Sometimes it comes back, but I quickly get rid of my dilemmas. Because I know that these are not healthy reasons to store unnecessary items. One must move forward. Minimalism is not about having as little as possible, it is about the things that we have must serve us properly and then it makes sense to have them. And aside from minimalism, if you really want to get rid of something, you can just do it. You don’t have to throw it away. Give it to a friend (or foe), donate to any public institution, donate to a charity auction, sell it, and save those money or spend it on something that really makes sense to you.

How is it with you? Do you find it easy to throw out what is unnecessary, or do you have your dilemmas?