What could you live without if you chose to?

United States
January 29, 2008 4:00pm CST
I was thinking about this while responding to other discussions. We have so much that we think of as needs that really are wants, things that make us more comfortable somehow, things that we have had in our lives for so long that we expect them to always be there. But what do we really need? No, I'm not expecting people to become Spartans or to give up every comfort. I'm just looking for a perspective, I guess. I'm examining perspectives of what is and isn't necessary. I've gotten used to such things as soft drinks daily. When I was a kid we hardly ever had anything but milk or kool-aid, and kool-aid was a treat. My mom canned grape juice so we got that sometimes. But we drank water if we didn't have milk. I can remember times in my adulthood when we had very little money and ate whatever we could get. Now I sometimes throw out leftovers that no one will eat. Never had to worry about what to do with leftovers when I was poor. And all the stuff that litters our house these days. I don't NEED much of it, probably none of it actually. So why do I sometimes feel like I will never get enough/have enough money? From this perspective I have more of everything than I need. My grandmother used to tell us how they only had two or three sets of clothes. They didn't need closets because they had hooks on the wall to hang their closes on. They had church clothes and regular clothes. Sometimes they had regular school clothes and regular play clothes. That took care of all three sets of clothes! And they wore hand-me-downs until they fell apart. They made some of their clothes from cotton feed sacks. I've got clothes I seldom if ever wear, a whole closet full of clothes. I think I need to give away more stuff! It seems to weigh me down. The clutter, especially, saps my energy. So, what do you do with things you don't need anymore? I give clothing to Goodwill and other things I give away via FreeCycle [a Yahoo Group]. I especially like FreeCycle because the person who wants it comes and picks it up, making it even easier on me. I don't have the energy for a garage sale. I know some people get rid of things that way. I'll probably donate stuff to our church rummage sale this spring. I think I will give away more as I develop this perspective of having so much more than I need.
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2 responses
• Philippines
29 Jan 08
I cant leave without GOD.
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• United States
30 Jan 08
Personally, I don't consider God a thing.
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• Brazil
30 Jan 08
It is impossible the world to live without LOVE and CHARITY.The rest finds a way of living without...
• United States
30 Jan 08
Again, these are qualities of a person, not things that can be counted as posessions.
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