Let's Talk About Guilt Hoarding

 You are ready. 

You have your donation box in one hand and your garbage bag in the other. 

You open that first cupboard and BAM. Right there in the very front is the $300 juicer that you begged your husband for and have used twice. Both uses in the first week you got it. Three years ago.

Oops. 

You can't get rid of it! It was $300! What will your husband/mother/dog say? 

So you reorganize the whole cupboard, push it to the back, and it sits there until next year when you declutter again. 

Staring at you every time you open that cupboard, the guilt just adds to the pile of mental strain you carry throughout your day. 

The guilt you would feel getting rid of it causes you to keep it.

Here's my issue with that logic.

Keeping it doesn't make the guilt go away.

Think about it! You see it and feel guilty every day. It takes up space in your cupboard and in your life. 

The ONLY way to make that guilt go away is to get rid of that juicer (donate/sell whatever suits your fancy) and move on. Forget about it. Forgive yourself for it.

You, my dear friend, are learning. You are practicing at life. OF COURSE you are going to make mistakes! 

I tell my students every day, making mistakes is not only okay, it's expected when we are learning new things. You are learning how to live simply and escape consumer culture, that's a big deal. Be gentle with yourself.

Give yourself permission to move on and just donate it. When it's gone you can move on. Don't immortalize your mistakes and guilt in objects. 

Let it go. 

Free yourself.

Forgive yourself.

You got this!

I'm proud of you. :D