Obsessed With Less?
Over the past 4-5 years, I have done a lot of decluttering. I wouldn’t say that I was a hoarder before, but I rarely applied the rule of “one in, one out.” If I bought something new, I rarely got rid of the old.
The first home we lived in did not have a lot of storage space. Our shelves were cluttered to the max. Not just filled, but cluttered. When we moved, I was overwhelmed at how much stuff we really had, even though we had lived in our first home for only 7 years. It’s amazing how much you can accumulate in just 7 short years.
When Dan and I experienced a season of loss in 2012, we did not realize how much baggage we were carrying in many different ways. When we moved out to Minnesota, we experienced a time of healing, rejuvenation, and a release of burdens that were weighing us down – even when it came to the stuff we owned.
I started an organizing blog (it was something I always dreamed of doing) which challenged me to live up to what I was writing about. I started to declutter, and declutter, and declutter. This process of trying to live with less had been years in the making. I realized that the stuff we owned was just stuff. There were things we no longer needed and no longer used, yet we continued to store those items for no apparent reason.
I started to love decluttering, recycling, and donating “stuff.” Call it an odd love, but it started to become a passion. A passion I blogged about for a few years. But then this passion was turning almost into an obsession.
Too much of something often ends up turning into an obsession or an addiction of some sorts. Not that I was fully there, but I found myself in spare moments, walking through our home wondering what else I could get rid of, instead of just being content. And that was where the issue was.
You would think that trying to live with less was a good thing, but I realized I was walking a fine line of being obsessed with less. I was losing contentment and being ungrateful, really. Seems odd, but I found myself realizing that something I loved to do, organizing and trying to live with less, was consuming me.
I LOVE to talk about simplifying life. I think there is such beauty in the simple life – but it looks different for everyone. How we live our life is going to be completely different than the way you do. I wasn’t comparing myself to anyone else, but I found myself floundering, feeling unsettled, and really, wondering who I was. I was seeking this simple life, but not setting boundaries.
Then I realized I had failed to give this to God. I had to give what I owned to God. Not that our house is overloaded with things, but even what we did own, was NOT my own, but belonged to God. And I was to do with it what HE pleased, not with what I pleased.
And I have to say, I am at a good place. Of course I still find things hidden and wonder why I still have this or that, but that is called seasons of life. We have toys in our home now because that is our stage of life. But it’s a beautiful stage and I am LOVING it. I will always have a passion to live with less because I know the freedom and simplicity that living with less offers. It makes room for what’s important in life. When our lives our cluttered with material things, they often get in the way of the God-things. But I do not want an obsession with less, to get in the way.
Maybe you are walking a fine line of obsession in your own way. An obsession to keep up with the trends. An obsession to keep up with your neighbors. An obsession to keep up with social media. Walking that fine line can either put you over the edge or make you realize you need to make some changes.
Take a look at your life and ask God what you need to let go of and give to Him!
You will not regret it!
