Last night I was reading my latest issue of Real Simple magazine and came across a highly recommended book called Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life. After spending a whopping $500 on designer jeans in the past month, I decided this would be the perfect time for some spring cleaning. But as I began making my list of things to get rid of, I couldn’t help but think of all the things I just couldn’t give up. I realized that maybe “finding your life” isn’t just about clearing the clutter, but also remembering what’s worth keeping.Fifty things to get rid of:
50. The 49 pairs of jeans I no longer wear
49. My desire to NEED designer jeans in the first place
48. The torn piece of gym shirt that once belonged to my middle school crush, Zach Long
47. The 49 pairs of shoes I no longer wear, but consider “art”
46. The ugly dish towels given to me for our wedding
45. The broken chairs I salvaged from the demolished shed behind our house
44. The empty candy wrappers in my purse
43. The memory of Shiner’s death
42. Doing things for the wrong reasons
41. The grey, moldy, Eastpak from 9th grade covered in my own Sharpie designs
40. The toxic people in my life
39. Negative thoughts
38. All of my old softball uniforms
37. Judgment
36. My habitual tardiness to everything
35. My need for control
34. Worrying
33. Tanning without sunscreen
32. Anger
31. Frozen dinners
30. Resentment
29. My MySpace account
28. Negative people
27. The desire to be perfect
26. All self-hate
25. IM-ing
24. Cracking my knuckles
23. My fear of swimming
22. Regret
21. Diet soda (it doesn’t even taste good!)
20. My collection of middle school notes full of OMG! and TTYL!
19. Holey socks
18. At least one of my eight magazine subscriptions
17. Self-consciousness
16. My Nordstrom credit card
15. Believing in “normal”
14. Spending beyond my means
13. Punishing myself
12. Dissatisfaction
11. Obsession
10. Unkind talk
9. My many “junk drawers”
8. Enabling
7. The Bad Girls Club
6. My collection of empty CD cases
5. “Shoulda, woulda, coulda”
4. Fear of failure
3. Participation in gossip
2. Lying (to myself or to others)
1. Procrastination
Fifty things worth keeping:
50. All the well-stickered envelopes that once held cards sent by my Mamaw
49. The credit I give myself
48. My true friends
47. Making time to write
46. My stories, no matter how much class time they waste
45. Confidence
44. The blue cowboy boots
43. Forgiveness
42. My memories of Europe
41. Positive thoughts
40. My high school gym shirt with the sleeves cut off
39. Acceptance
38. Sunshine (with sunscreen!)
37. Self-love
36. Sweet tea
35. My Facebook account
34. My shelf of journals
33. The memory of Shiner’s life
32. My collection of vintage, hand-tooled leather purses
31. ALL the pictures I own
30. Silence
29. My dreams
28. Exercise
27. My peace of mind
26. Pedicures
25. Twilight (I guess)
24. My collection of notes from Katie and Peter
23. Love letters
22. Hope
21. Chef Boy R Dee
20. Pretty things
19. Humility
18. Zebra Cakes
17. My i-pod
16. The Maple Festival
15. The Bachelor
14. Authenticity
13. Love, true love
12. Texting
11. Oprah
10. Supper Club
9. Thrift store shopping
8. Ramen Noodles
7. All the cards I’ve gotten over the years
6. The multi-colored lights in my classroom
5. Some of the designer jeans I own (they really do fit better!)
4. Coupons
3. The tie-dyed pink shirt I made in middle school that finally fits perfectly
2. Hearing live music
1. Gratitude
