Letting Go

Sometimes you just have to toss stuff.

I'm guilty of being a pack rat, meaning I save things that should probably go in the trash.

It's the nostalgic spirit in me, as I often like to reflect on the past and cherish the journey that got me here.

But enough is enough.

The other day, I ventured to the large plastic containers under the basement steps and established four criteria for whether or not I hold onto something or it goes in the trash.

1. Do I want to die with this?

2. Will my daughter be interested in it?

3. Will it help me in my career?

4. Can I sell it?

If the answer was "no" to all four, it got tossed.  

I threw out several hundred Sports Illustrated and Baseball Digest magazines, dating back to the early '70s.

I went through them one by one, enjoying for the last time the SI covers of Cal Ripken, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.

Baseball Digest was my first-ever magazine subscription, so these were a bit harder to part with. Stories about Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente, rookie Carlton Fisk and The Big Red Machine took me back to a more innocent time.

But the answer was an emphatic "no" to the four criteria questions, so out they went.

And life just got simpler.

Comments

[Seth]

I'll bet you could have sold some of those old magazines if they were in good shape. Eventually they will become antiques, so maybe futre generations could have made money.

[Kathode Ray Tube]

It's so hard letting go of these things. My basement is so full of stuff, and I've got to start too. My warped LP's would be a good place to begin.

[Lisa]

Jeff just commented that those were the days when he really admired the athletes. Nowadays they seem like hired hands much of the time.