Rule #3 Too much of a GOOD thing is still a BAD thing

One of the mistakes people make
is they assume that I hate all stuff
and think you should throw it all away

and that's simply not true.

I think there is a lot of value in really great things that add positively to our lives.
There are a lot of functional, lovely and amazing gadgets and gizmos, not to mention necessities and "desirables."

But let's talk for a minute about amounts.

And let's start by talking about something simple like stuffed animals.

I don't think anyone looking at this picture would ever say that a stuffed animal is a bad thing. There are times in every kid's life where a stuffed animal provides security and happiness. I don't know what it is about them but they are magical that way.

Firefighters, police officers and other first responders usually carry a couple of stuffed animals in their vehicles to give to children who have been through a traumatic experience. And they work wonderfully.


But what about this?

TOO MUCH!!!!
That's overwhelming, and messy and ridiculous.



So...
Stuffed animals are a GOOD THING
but
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING 
is a BAD THING!

What about a really great family game night?

It's fun and full of memories, right?

so no one is saying that board games
are the problem.
They are great
and add a lot of POSITIVE to our lives.

But what about this?

or

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING is simply a BAD THING

no matter what it is.

 No matter 
how well 
they work...

or how cute 

they are

or how cheap they were.

Too much is too much.
Period.

One might ask...

How do you know if it's too much?

Here's a good indicator.

Ask yourself, sincerely,

would I buy this many or this much again if I were starting all over?

A while ago I wrote a blog post about the questions you can ask yourself when dejunking and evaluating your things. You can check it out here

One of my favorites is the question "If my house was destroyed, would I replace this item with money out of my own pocket?"

A lot of times, when we are talking about TOO MUCH, what has happened is we have taken one good thing, then acquired another, then another and then another and never let any go. We end up with too much on total accident. And, if we thought about it, we would totally acknowledge we would never buy that many if we were starting all over. So why keep them now?

One really great this or that is fantastic.
Too many is not.

My advice, really evaluate the piles of things you have in your home and spaces. Do you NEED 6 rubber spatulas? Do you NEED 8 white tee shirts? Do you NEED 16 white pillow cases? or drawers full of half-dead batteries or 27 glass vases? 

One or two of those is fine. No one is saying any one of those things is a bad thing. But that is TOO MUCH.

And remember

Rule #3:  Too much of a GOOD thing is still a BAD thing.


Next Post:  Rule #4  Learn to borrow instead of own!