"To Toss or Not to Toss, That is the Question" - Time Out #74

As one goes down life's path, many, many questions have easy answers.

Others aren't as black and white; a few decisions are downright difficult to make. Those difficult ones cause veterans, such as me, to ponder the answers more and more.

Procrastinate you say??

Yes. I'll give you that, but occasionally I think I'm trying to reinvent the wheel, because I can't arrive at a decision.

What is it. pray tell, that seems to regularly send me into an absolute tailspin?

Merely this; whether to keep something, or throw it away.

Because modern America is a disposable society and has been moving more that direction for my entire life, the easy answer would be to merely take the item in question, and quickly throw it into the trash can. Here again. however, I might be faced with putting it in the true trash holder, or the more "feel good" recycling barrel.

I think I'll merely blame my reluctance to throw items away on my upbringing over 60 years ago. If I can sell this disconnect, then I won't have to own it, or said another way, accept personal responsibility.

That would go against every fiber in my father's strong personality that instilled forever in me and my 2 siblings, we are TOTALLY responsible for our own actions. Period.

Therefore, guess who is responsible for my frequent problems with letting go of various things-----ME!

What throw away things am I talking about citizens of Our Town?

If you asked my bride, the answer would be all types of paper goods. That would be newspapers, travel pamphlets, informational brochures, promotional flyers; basically anything that would readily burn if a match was placed close to it. At times in the past, I might even be labeled a paper hoarder.

I do think I have improved in the paper gathering dilemma, but you'd really have to ask my dear lady about just how much progress, if any, I have actually made.

Other areas of improvement needed?

Well, I would have to say old clothes certainly deserve a big shout out.

The oldest excuse ever along this line for me, of course, is "When I lose enough weight, it'll be real easy for me to slip into those pants/shirt/suit/shorts, etc"

Not sure when "when" is going to arrive, but possibly not in this lifetime.

Also, not real sure when bell-bottom pants, extra wide ties, paisley shirts or white patent penny loafer shoes are going to be the fashion rage again. Sometimes, I have to ask myself whether or not any of those items were EVER in style?

Many of those who claim to have known me forever, would possibly tell you I DID make regular fashion statements by wearing certain garments over the years,

So how do I routinely handle this overflow of excessive stuff?

No, I don't rent several storage facilities around town, buy extra sheds to stack full with junk or have an attic full of fire starter materials.

Most of my first line deterrent is named Debbie. From her, the excess items end up GONE--trash, donations, other destinations outside our home,

She is definitely the original Mrs. Clean; many times if something sits around our home for longer that 5.3 seconds, she eliminates it.

However, over the years, I have morphed into a better organizer, and, thus, have smaller piles of stuff than I use to regularly collect.

So, the moral is, if I make it to 100, I should have a spotless room, absent of any junk.