I would never have banked on a garage sale having an effect on my psyche. However, this weekend, all of that changed. In an amazing turn of events, I did NOT have a wedding this weekend. Instead, I had a garage sale. A sale that accumulated items from not one, not two, but THREE homes I have been living in (meaning my possessions were there). I have never worked so hard to drag, lift, move and trash belongings that have encompassed nearly 30 years of my life. It was a span of time from the days when I got my first set of baseball cards and comic books, to the time I first became a mother, to days of picking up Little Tykes and My Littlest Petshop toys from all over the house, to the days I went back to school, to the days I decided to open my little flower shop, to the days I said "I Do". I realized all of these"things" had symbolically become of part of who I thought I was, a reflection of my likes and dislikes, my mistakes, my accomplishments, my joys and my sorrows. And now, after 3 days of work, these "things" lay in my garage with a masking tape price tag on them. How do you determine their worth? The little table that I love, the stuffed animal my daughter snuggled with while she was teething, the first set of dishes I bought when I got my first apartment. They "seem" so important. Can anyone else truly understand their worth?
Here's the therapy part. I know you were worried I wouldn't get there :) So, amidst all this "stuff," I have about 85 various vases and floral related things from my old flower shop. Anyone who knows me, knows that I define myself mostly as a florist. So this "stuff" is important!!!! I have held onto it for nearly 5 years now, collecting dust in the garage. It DEFINES me, right? I NEED it, right? SOMEDAY, it will be useful again, RIGHT????
Well, that probably seems silly to the reader. It's just a bunch of "stuff!!!" However, in an event that can be translated as nothing short of fateful, a young lady walks up my driveway, eagerness in her step, a smile on her face. She is simply out garage-saling hoping to find miscellaneous things that will help her get her business "inventoried". She didn't know she was about to walk on a landmine. This "STUFF" that I held on to for so long, just created a future for this sweet girl. She is a young florist, opening a little shop, hoping to get her feet wet in a big, expensive industry. I just made that a little easier for her. Each of these vases and miscellaneous "flower" parts will help her get started! I was just so excited at that, that I forgot all about how that stuff defined "me".
In the end, we sold almost every single item from those 3 decades of life, and here's what I discovered: NONE of it was worth ANYTHING to me. On this Independence Day, I want to celebrate my "independence" of material things. I will live a simple, clean, and clutter free life FOREVER after going through this experience. Life is not made up of the stuff we bring into our house, it is made of the love we put in our hearts.
Thank goodness I am also blessed to be in the LOVE BUSINESS!!!!!!
Happy Independence Day, go have a garage sale! Tiffany
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