It is the things that you could never buy that are worth the most… Life, love, friendship, and joy.

I think I have alluded to the fact that I dislike cleaning in an earlier post. Today (despite this dislike) I decided to clean my closet (no fun…seriously, none whatsoever). Here’s what I learned. I have A LOT of stuff.  A lot of needless, useless stuff, that I have been holding on to because, “I may need it later.” Guess what? Later came…I didn’t need them. So today as I was cleaning, I made a conscious effort to not think to myself, “I may need this later”. Oddly, trying to maintain this frame of thought was harder than you would think. As I struggled to let go of things that I will never use again, I had this thought…Why do we get so attached to STUFF?  This need to accumulate possessions is not just a disease of the closet, it is a disease of life.

The latest gadgets and hippest clothes have become a necessity. Our possessions and NOT our character are what dictates our self-worth. Society has taught us to judge people by WHAT they have, and not by WHO they are. Therefore, to be liked, appreciated and seen as “someone” we accumulate…THINGS. Today I have thrown out a lot of my material possessions, and still I have somehow managed to maintain my identity. We are not the sum of our “purchases”.  Our person-hood (yeah it’s not a word, but it works) cannot be determined by what we own. Instead it’s our personal growth and the time and energy we pour into the lives of the people we care about. Our ability to see the needs of others and not just focus on ourselves.  These are the things that determine our worth. When I leave this earth, I don’t want to  be known for my STUFF. I want to be remembered for who I was, and for how I treated the people who came in contact with me.

So what am I thankful for today? A clean closet…literally and figuratively.