Love it or Let it Go: Why Nothing Comes Into My House Unless I Love It

After 13 years in my town home, it was time to move on.  It was time for a new chapter in my life.

As I thought about moving, I started looking around my house to decide what I wanted to take with me to my new place. As I looked around I realized – NOT MUCH!

I realized …

• I purchased my couch and loveseat because they were a good deal and I’d buy new stuff some day when I had more money.  Well, 13 years later and I still had the couch and loveseat that I didn’t really even like.
• The decorations I had in my home were picked out by other people and given to me. Although they were given to me with love and good intentions, I didn’t necessarily love the décor.  But I put the items up because they gave them to me and I would feel bad if I didn’t use them.
• I had some items from my marriage that had ended 14 years earlier. I realized that I quietly cringed inside each time I passed by them.

I realized that I had all this stuff in my house that I didn’t even like and didn’t feel good about.

It was time to let it all go.

It was time to minimize.  

It was time to live a different way.

So, I made a new rule for myself:

IF I DON’T LOVE IT, IT DOESN’T GO INTO MY NEW HOME. PERIOD!

Oh my – how life has changed from that one decision. That one rule.

It was a process at first. Looking at every item. Touching every item and asking myself – do I love this?

Do I love the color? Do I love the shape? Do I love the size? Do I love the looks of it? Does it feel good to me?  

I got rid of sooooooo much stuff! I had been tolerating stuff in my home for years. I didn’t even realize it. I had gotten used things the way they were.  And when I paid attention to what I had been tolerating, I realized it really didn’t feel that good.

So, I let it go. I let it all go!

Now – when I walk into my home each day I LOVE it!

I love each room.

I love the decorations.

I love everything from the silverware my Dad gave me in 1992,  to the brightly colored ‘Paintedstuf’ calendar that hangs in my kitchen to the gorgeous teal  towels in my bathrooms.  Love, love, love!

And every time someone comes over to my house – they step inside and say “I love it here. It feels so good. I love your decorations.”   

You know why it feels good?  

Because the furniture and decorations represent ME. The items and colors represent ME. It is because the items are a true expression of myself and when you walk in you feel the positive energy. You feel me. You get who I am and you feel the love.

All because of the one little rule I made: Nothing comes into my house unless I love it!