Thow it out!

From time to time I've written about getting it done around my place.  THE PLAN - heck MY PLAN and it is coming along just fine - more in another post.

Now it is Spring once again so we are clearing out a closet, drawer, garage, whatever it is.   Where does spring cleaning come from?  I have found that back in the days when homes (especially in cold climates) were heated by oil, coal, and sooty type fuels, it was truly needed once the temperature came up outside.  While we have cleaner heating fuels and the such, opening out the windows, washing, scouring, dusting, etc and generally picking up and organizing your space has become a spring time ritual.

And with those thoughts, I came across Gail Blanke.  This is a powerhouse of one lady!  You need to stop by her site and see and hear about her book Throw Out 50 Things:  Clear the clutter, Find Your Life.   You can get her book at Gail's Book -
 Gail Blanke - Go visit her.


Here's her list of 50 things!  It's a great place to begin with.  Check back and see my PLAN.  By the way, at her site you can download the PDF workbook or the DOC workbook to help you get started!  Any way....... here goes it! 

1) Magazines more than three months old. They're fire-hazards.
2) Old receipts clogging the kitchen drawer. You know that drawer.
3) Keys that seem to have no locks. Haven't had for years. Maybe decades.
4) The belief that you're alone.
5) Twisty ties, random paper clips and safety pins.

6) Loose change. (Recycle!)
7) Trying to please everyone.
8) Containers of partally used grooming products untouched for six months.
9) Makeup in shades you no longer wear or can't be found in nature.
10) List your insecurities--and toss 75% of them.

11) Putting yourself down.
12) The need for everyone to like you.
13) Old athletic shoes with worn treads. (Recycle!)
14) Medicines for condtions you no longer have. (Your pharmacy can dispose of them.)
15) Jumping to negative conclusions before you know the real deal.

16) Mismatched silverware or dishes.
17) Banged-up pots.
18) Stale spices and ingredients.
19) Thinking you're always right.
20) Training wheels. (Your son is 38, right?)

21) T-shirts from the company outing that you grudgingly attended two weeks before you were canned.
22) The times you messed up.
23) The need to know how it all turns out.
24) Plastic garden pots.
25) Dried-up tubes of glue. Dried-up anything, really.

26) A single sock, glove or earring. Its mate is not coming back.
27) Thinking you have to have all the answers.
28) Sheets, towels or pillows that are torn, chewed or just burn you out.
29) People who remember the bad times, not the good ones.
30) Old college furniture.

31) Wire clothes hangers.
32) Clothes that no longer fit.
33) Clothes from departed loved one. Someone else needs them now.
34) Thinking that if you let go of the memorabilia, you'll lose the memories.
35) Souvenirs from bad vacations.

36) Old parking tickets.
37) Bank statements, unless you need them for tax purposes. Shred.
38) Bills more than one year old. Keep shredding.
39) Fear that you're not rich enough, smart enough, good enough.
40) Energy-sucking comparisons with other people.

41) Playing the same music over and over.
42) Feeling that your life is a movie you're watching instead of starring in.
43) The belief that your best days are behind you.
44) Books that you'll "get to someday."
45) Waiting for the right moment.

46) Eating the same food.
47) Fear of looking foolish.
48) The adage "no one is indispensable." Everyone counts.
49) Negative typecasting.
50) Anything you don't want to pass on to your children -- from worn-out rugs to worn-out grudges.