photo: © archideaphoto – Fotolia.com
It has been awhile since I have written a Trim the Fat post. That’s because I’ve been trimming a lot of fat. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been real fat. I’m losing some, but nothing dramatic.
The kind of fat I’m having to trim is the kind that fills your house. . .stuff! Our plan last year was to downsize. Our house sold so fast, we didn’t get to finish the process of downsizing that we started.
We moved to Alabama into a house about the size of the one we left. The plan was to finish the downsizing process over the year but between being burned out from the move, adjusting to a new town and being actively involved at our church. . . well, it didn’t get done!
Now we’re into forced, planned downsizing. Yes, it is our choice. We’re finally getting it done.
Now, we’re moving into a smaller place and the trimming is being forced on us. . .by our own choice of course, but I guess we’ll call it a planned, forced downsizing. Today, when we went into the apartment, the realization of its size helped me realize it is even smaller than I remembered. It is smaller than my measurements show on the floor too!
It’s helping me realize that I won’t be able to jettison too much! I’m realizing that I’ll be taking less chairs than I planned and probably won’t bother to take all the things I boxed.
So in the next few days, we’ll be taking small things over to the apartment. Friday, the truck will take our bigger items. I think we’ll have a lot left behind at the house. Then, we’ll deal appropriately with the items.
I knew we would be selling some, tossing more, and giving away even more than we have already. The next decision? Will we have a garage sale? Maybe so!
I’ll know after Friday. Fortunately, we have until May 1 to finish moving out of our house.
How are you doing on the 2014 Trim the Fat Challenge?
Are you having smooth sailing? Congratulations. You are unusual.
Are you struggling like I am?
You are more likely the norm. Why is that? Because any change is difficult. It is not going to go smoothly. In the process of changing habits, you will find some success and some failure. And the process won’t be easy. When you fall off the horse, so to speak, you need to get back on.
That is the key to change. Not giving up! Each time you fail, you learn something from your failure. So get back up on the horse. Find a friend who can help you. It may mean prayer support or reminders or checking up on some aspect of your new habit.
Just because you make a decision to change some aspect of your life doesn’t mean you have to do it alone! It also doesn’t mean the change will be done in 5 minutes or 5 days!
Share the struggle with someone else, maybe someone who has been through a similar one. Ask for their help in accountability in some way.
So I feel like a couple of weeks from now, we’ll have a lot less stuff than we do now!
