Save or Share or Sell? Keep or Give Away or Toss?

We’ve all asked ourselves these questions many times as we move from one residence to another, clean out a closet, straighten a drawer, remodel a room. All those big and little items challenge us to the point that we may feel our values and priorities are in question.

What does it mean if we haphazardly toss out what we think of as junk? On the other hand, what does it mean if we have a need to save all our “stuff”? or even some, or most of it? Are we being selfish in both cases?

“I’m tossing it just because I want to, I don’t need it anymore, and I'm sure no one else wants it”(when there is every likelihood that someone else not only wants it, but could make good use of it, or even actually needs it… and then there’s the greater good of recycling rather than trashing, and the knowledge that we should help, empathize, and share with our fellow human beings).
--or--
“I’m saving it just because I want to, I might need it/use it later on, and my kids might want it sometime”(when you know it’s just taking up space, that the possibility of using it was originally a “toss” option so you probably will neither need nor use it, ever, and the idea of your kids wanting your junk is silly because they already have enough junk of their own).

Yes, there are elements of selfishness in both cases, which makes a person want to avoid ever accumulating anything for fear of having to make a decision about some worldly good (or assumed “good”... at least at one time... for a while anyway). What a dilemma.

Some folks are just packrats by nature, and generally we consider that amusing and quaint… after all, what harm are they doing? Others seem to be naturally spartan. Their homes are decorated in minimalist fashion, and usually clean. Their cupboards and closets are nearly bare by ordinary standards, and we think that’s kind of weird, but again, what harm are they doing?

Do we judge people’s values and priorities by the amount of stuff they surround themselves with? Well, yes, unfortunately some of us find all kinds of reasons to judge others. When you come right down to it, though, who cares? How important can it be? It’s your stuff, after all!