Style N Season: February 2016

Hi Lovely Friends!

Here's an update of my one resolution per month project. You can read about what I'm doing in this post here, but in summary, it's programming yourself to do one, - yes, just one, so it is very feasible and achievable - resolution per month on a consistent, daily basis; thus within a year we will have accomplished twelve resolutions in total, which doesn't sound too shabby, ain't it!

I am perfectly aware that by the third week of January, the word "resolution" has a stinking feeling to it. Terri Savelle Foy claimed that 30% of those who set New Year's resolution for themselves quit in the first week. And then we feel guilty, and yet twelve months later we keep doing the stinking mistake all over again.

Now, I'd say, why do we have to wait until the clock strikes midnight on December 31st to improve ourselves? Self improvement is like tax, it's for a lifetime. Just because it's already February and therefore can no longer be considered as New Year, it doesn't mean we cannot start something fresh, anew, a good habit, make a resolution to better the quality of our lives and make us feel better about ourselves, right here and NOW!

My January resolution was to declutter, to purge one unneeded item per day. So how did I do?

There were many many days when I purged more than one item!
There were many many happy recipients who are blessed with things that I purged. A girl maid received a lovely mint cardigan that had become too tight on me. The man who hauls our trash daily received lots and lots odds and ends from our home that we no longer care for, but he could sell for some money. The local gardeners and security guards received promotional T-shirts, notebooks, and jackets that Hubby and I regularly received for free from the companies we work for.
On days that I couldn't think to get rid of anything tangible, I purged unneded files, pictures, or videos from my hard drive.
I don't limit myself to just stuff inside my drawer/closet/cupboard, but expanding it into unneeded furniture, as well! A neighbor gladly took a small drawer that had been sitting idle and on everybody's way for months, empty and not adding anything to the room but the nagging feeling of "I don't need this, it should not be here." I also got rid of two old shoe racks and an old chair that had become an eyesore.
Hubby donated a box full of books to a local school project for underprivileged children.
It feels soooooooooooooo good to know that so many unneeded items have left my home, and that some of them even could benefit other people!
Whenever I open my closet/cupboard/bathroom/storage or see the empty spots where I used to "display" my unneeded items, as well as the rooms where it used to feel so cramped with uneeded, unlovely furnitures, I feel so much relief and much much less guilty feeling of having so many stuff that I don't need!
I have done major purging and decluttering in the past, but only sporadically. Knowing that I only need to purge ONE item per day instead of going through a whole closet/room, encouraged me to get down and actually do it; because it did not feel overwhelming or overly ambitious.
I didn't need to set aside a spesific time to do this "project". I am only about to toss ONE thing! So I have no excuse that I'm too busy, since purging one item literally doesn't take time at all! And quite often, I ended up purging more than one item, so that's a bonus!

I like to see how much I have gained with this new habit, I am so happy with my progress, that I decided to prolong the "purge one unneded item per day" habit another month till February, just to make sure the habit of regular purging really sticks with me.

This is a resolution that I'm sure I can carry for years to come, because eventhough we are not shopping a lot, people always give us things and we receive a lot of things for free all the time, sent to our home. I still have so many things to purge: seasonal decorations, digital files, plastic food and drink containers. Lots! So I want to make sure that this habit will stay with me instead of deteriorating if I try to eat more than I could chew and add a brand new habit or resolution to my plate.

Pages

Monday, February 15, 2016

Purple Rain: A Simpler Life

Monday, February 1, 2016

One Resolution A Month: Purging Part 2