An Update, Books, and Motivating Me

After a few days short of about a weeks worth of unexpected but necessary rest, I am once again ready to approach downsizing.

This week I am striving to downgrade my white
tornado approach and behave more like the tortoise.

Inch by inch it's a cinch.

This week also found our renters in need of another month living here so that the repairs underway in their new home can be completed before closing.

They are good friends and good company.  I am relieved to have a reprieve not of my own making.  It's an extension of time, granted by circumstances.

While Paul is painting the trim around the fire place, I am sorting through books.

Books are my friends, and I will dearly miss their presence. Many of these books haven't seen a shelf in years, as they've been living in boxes.
Why?
They've been waiting for the mission style book shelves to be built in the room that was once a formal dining area.  We are selling the house and I am leaving the dream of the books on the built by me bookshelves behind.  Today I am going through the books and removing personal items, book marks, money, notes, and receipts.  I am deciding as I go where the many books will go, and I find a pleasure in doing so.

Who will make the best use of the shelf of Harley Davidson and Motorcycle books?  Who will want the cookbooks that date back to the 60's and 70's?  Who will appreciate the shelf of books on marketing and sales?

The books that I am leaving with others are books that I hope will be put to good use.  This appeals to that basic practical need I have to help others help themselves.   It's good  for me to find happiness and satisfaction during this process.   While many of the remaining books are likely to end up in recycling bin, I will donate to the local  charities and see if they have any luck reselling from their shelves and let that decision belong to some one in the future.

After a few hours of handling books, I realize I have picked up and set back down on the shelf the same book.  Three times.  I am aware that I am tired and distracted and not making progress.

I now take this as a sign to either take a break, rest, or refocus.   Or all of the above!

To refocus, I like to get online and read motivating articles that inspire me to keep moving.

This article takes it a step further than I am willing to go by asking that you write down everything that you own, then calculate it's value or cost, then sort your belongings by Need, Sometimes Need, Want, and Crap.
The author then recommends that you take photos of the four different stacks, and review the cost in time and dollars of the crap stack (pile).   It's a method that can be used to change the way we think about the way we buy our stuff.

I'm all for redesigning the programming in between the ears in order to live a leaner, cleaner life.  I find that having a full time retail with long hours job was (I left work last October) a huge distraction from thinking about purchases.

I  realize that I purchased many things not because I needed them, but because, as this article suggests, I was using many a purchase as a way to fill my unmet need for time out with friends, time to have fun, time in the garden, time for reflection and time for my spiritual life.  

The effort to refocus has inspired me to take the rest a step further.  I invite my husband to a nap.

A nap will allow the brain to cogitate on the next few hours of book sorting.

By the time we wake up, it will be nearly time to open a bottle of wine.

Effort, Reward, Rest, Repeat.