What's the big deal?

Yard sales are a big deal. They can bring out, uncover, and in some cases, expose so much stuff. If it’s your yard sale, there’s the ownership, emotion, attachment, detachment, history, and all the other stuff that comes with offering up your stuff. There’s also the various yard sale customers, neighbors, random people passing by, and savvy-seasoned consumers, ready to rummage through and negotiate for your stuff. And, of course, there’s all the items, all the trinkets, all the things that make up the yard sale - the actual stuff - and each item can become such a big deal.

All of this set up, preparation, interaction, and transaction, all this stuff, can become a serious walk down memory lane, a convenient excuse to declutter, a nice opportunity to take stock in what we value, and an amazing reminder that one person’s trinket may be another person’s treasure. This fascinating exchange, the complexity of putting a value on our things, negotiating around a $1.50 cent item…can be extremely revealing. This process of someone wanting to get rid of stuff and another person wanting to buy that same stuff can be a great lesson for all of us around what we must choose to cherish, what we should hang onto for a little longer, and what we could possibly live without.

This “cherish, hang onto, live without” model is not only helpful when running a yard sale, it can also be a valuable tool when reflecting on the past year while looking forward to the opportunities and possibilities that lie ahead. Just as we set out the yard sale items for others to purchase, and decide what goes and what stays, I encourage all of us, as we embrace the new year, to create a framework that helps us take stock in what we value, so we can remove what is unnecessary, hold onto what is needed, and cherish what is important to us.

When I think of it this way, these are some of the questions that help me navigate this big deal:

- Where is there excess in my life?

- What do I have that I unnecessarily covet?

- Where can I minimize things that cause distractions and where can I create space to feed my focus?

- What do I possess that has served its purpose in my life, but someone else may cherish and value it in their life?

- What do I think I want to get rid of that may actually be of tremendous importance to me, but I’m just not giving it the value and credit it deserves?

Like setting up, planning, and overseeing a yard sale, as we ring in the New Year, may we all take stock in what we value while removing what is unnecessary, holding onto what is needed, and truly cherishing what is important to us. If we can figure this stuff out…that’s a big deal.