UNPACKING

We decided. Well, actually, Arlena decided. I simply agreed with her, which was the wise thing to do. It took me awhile to learn that it is best to agree with her right away than admit later on that she was right all along. I am a slow learner sometimes, but not any more when it comes to my spouse. So we decided, when the moving van arrived last Tuesday, to have the men put the furniture into the proper rooms but to have them put all the boxes in the garage. Then we could open each one individually and decide what to save, what to put out, what to put into boxes for each of the children, and what to give to Goodwill.

Well, it sounded good. We hope the kids will appreciate their new “treasures,” and that others will make good use of all that which we no longer need – and probably did not need even when we first acquired those items. We are trying to downsize and thought that by opening each box in the garage rather than in a particular room we would be less likely to just find a place for whatever was inside. Maybe. Probably. But please explain that to my back and arms and the rest of my body.

It is painful to downsize, physically and mentally, and for several reasons. First of all, again, unpacking all that stuff is hard work, manual labor. These bones aren’t what they used to be even if they certainly need the workout. This is not a play for sympathy because it would fall on deaf ears anyway. It is merely a statement of fact. At least it provided for several complete nights’ sleeps once I was able to crawl into bed. (Okay, a little sympathy would be nice.)

Further, deliberate downsizing usually means we are getting older and have come to finally realize we’ll never ever use all that stuff anyway. We found some things in those boxes we have never used even though we were sure we needed them when we first bought them. Yes, getting older goes with the territory called “life.” But it is somewhat painful to admit that we are on the downward slope. It is even more painful to realize that all that stuff we have been hoarding and never using could have been well used by others. That is not a pleasant thought.

Finally, unpacking all those boxes of stuff is a visible reminder that there comes a time in our lives when we have to stop and simply unpack all that internal stuff we have been carrying around for years, the stuff that weighs us down, especially the stuff we are not even aware we have been packing around but which has affected the way we have been thinking and acting over the years. Much of that stuff is good and valuable, but there is also much there that needs to be jettisoned and the longer we hold on to it, the more it will drag us down.

No one likes to unpack physically or spiritually. But it is only in doing so that we discover who we are and what we really value, what we should hold on to and what we should let go of, what is important and what is not.