We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly
disguised as insoluble problems.
--- Lee Iococca
The heights by great men reached and kept
were not attained by sudden flight,
but they, while their companions slept,
were toiling upward in the night.
---Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never
begin.
--- Grace Hansen
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
September Message from Rita
Nothing I could write would be as inspiring as these clips of emails
received from our fantastic readers referring to the last 2 Tip Sheets
about “
Leaving
A Legacy of Clutter”
Dear
Rita, Just read your newsletter. It struck a chord as I'm sure
it did with a lot of people!
We are clutter busting -- Papers and magazine clippings dumped - almost
everything can be found on the internet. I took photos of the articles
in papers and magazines in which my family had featured eg school plays,
company magazines. Thus they too joined the digital age. I've stored
on a web-based programme so no house or even hard drive space taken
up.
Thus, I could put all the books, etc. back in their own places. Not
only that, the books I'd bought on holiday had a place to go too. No
more, leaving-everything-in-bags-to-sit-around-for-weeks-till-we-can-push-them-in-somewhere.
Moira, Scotland
Rita, The results of my clutter busting? More floor space, no commercial-looking
file cabinet in my house, and I have yet to regret any piece of paper
that left the house during that clean-out. It is amazing what can get
cleared up if you just get started!
Mary
Rita, Five years ago, my best friend Pat lost her mom, who was a "neat
packrat". Everything had a place but there was not a spare MILLIMETER
in any drawer, closet or cabinet. Pat is still sorting through stuff
but she knows enough to periodically bring me and/or our friend Gail
over to box, unbox, pack and repack the stuff she was keeping, so that
she could part with things when she was ready. In her need to "hang
on" to her mom, Pat would sometimes have the most illogical rationales
for keeping mom’s things. Having us around meant that someone had the
chance to say, "Really, Pat? Your girls won't want to buy their OWN
athletic shoes in fifteen years? Are we really sure that the girls will
LIKE these nine red, white and blue Tommy Hilfiger sweaters when they
grow up?"
Bereavement is hard enough without the work of sorting through the stuff
left behind. As hard as it is to think of our own eventual demise, going
through this with Pat was a valuable life lesson. "If I were hit by
a truck next week, what would happen to all this STUFF?" Thanks for
inspiring me. I think I need to look through some closets again.
CJ (Carolyn)
Rita, We had a drain back-up in our finished basement. Talk about STUFF
to move so we could replace the carpet. Good time to weed out, eh? Did
I really need etc.? So it was time to pick up the camera and take pics
of “things” that have sentimental value. Much easier to have a shoebox
of photos than stuff.
Diane
Rita, This last Tip Sheet did it for me, as today I was just about to
tackle clutter. It’s always the paper. I have now got to the stage where
I just rip out the pages from magazines and newspapers. It’s so hard
not to do,
But guess what? yep…..these simple tear-outs have now accumulated too,
and my files have grown bigger and spread to different rooms in the
house. UGH. Time for me to do serious purging, and no, I don’t want
to leave this as my legacy to my family. I am ready to live my life
of abundance! Goes for the closet full of stuff I haven’t worn in years.
Carrie
Rita, this really struck a chord with me because of a friend I have
who is packing for an international move (Canada to US). He has held
on to all his parent's stuff as well as his mother-in-law's stuff. It
has been five years since the last one passed away.
He is packing everything. This move is going to cost him & his wife
a fortune. When he gets there, he plans to rent a warehouse to keep
everything in. NONE of his parents or in-laws would have wanted him
to have this burden, but their past inability to get rid of stuff is
causing a huge problem now.
The one good thing that has come out of this is that I do not wish to
burden my children, so I am slowly going through our "stuff". Even my
husband is managing to let go of some things. Regrettably the disco
boots have not made it to the discard pile yet.
Christie
Dear Rita,
After reading this Tip Sheet, I have decided to hire someone acquainted
with genealogy to help me finish it so I can give the kids a complete
book soon. I don't want to die and have someone just throw it out as
I have spent years working on it. So with some organizational skills
of another person maybe we can get it done.
Opal
Hi Rita!
Keep up the good work! My sister & I live in separate cities & each
have some boxes from our late parents' accumulated memories. I have
their yearbooks, audio tapes & movies that I don't have the need or
equipment to listen to or watch.
I don't anticipate needing to "savor" these items, and while I'll certainly
talk it over with my sister, I doubt she needs them. We have pictures
we've culled and that just might be plenty. Thanks.
Bill
Rita
Your last tip on using 15 minutes a day to clean out hidden piles, files
and clutter struck a note with me. I have implemented your suggestion
and what a great feeling it is! As a result, I am more creative, productive
and focused. It confirms that a little focused effort in the right place
can produce significant results. Thanks.
Ann
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
RITA ON THE RADIO
Want to hear a 30 minute computer/radio program where Dr. Carolyn Miller interviews
Rita on her Christian show “Getting Good at Life”? Click
here:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
RITA ON DVD
Want to break your procrastination or clutter habit, but don't
have time to read a book? Now you can watch Rita in your very own
home. Check out her
DVDs.
Please share this Tip Sheet with 2 or 3 friends who would be interested.
And feel free to use this message in your blog or newsletter, as long
as you include my bio and contact info:
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
