Pastor Ken
In the past few decades, we’ve moved no less than a dozen times. During one of them, my wife’s company was responsible for the relocation. In that process, a relocation firm was hired. They sent a moving crew to pack everything in the house into boxes, then loaded the boxes into a container truck. Upon arrival at the destination, another crew came to unpack the boxes and placed the items in the designated places. They also checked for any damages that might require insurance filing.
What impressed me the most was that I noticed a large box with only a lampshade inside, plus a lot of packing paper. I thought to myself, what a waste. Later, I found out the relocation firm based their fees on the number of boxes and their dimensions. More and larger boxes mean more revenue. The number of boxes during that move was more than 200. Since I didn’t have to pay, I didn’t mind at all.
Recently we moved again, and this time we paid for our move. Since the fee was based on the total area used in the container truck, we tried to save boxes as much as possible. The problem is: we must accommodate the size and shape of things to pack each box. At one point, with several half-packed boxes in front of me, I tried to think hard to figure out how to place a figurine in my hand into one of them.
It took me a while to fill one box and seal it with tape. Great. The job was done. There’s a saying, “Out of sight, out of mind.” After sealing the box, I felt good because there was one less thing to worry about.
Yeah. Life is full of changes. Whether it’s interpersonal relationships, jobs, or life situations, changes impact our emotions. If we don’t adjust our mindset and manage those emotions, we can become overwhelmed.
Perhaps we may consider different life events and their related emotions as house items. Periodically, we need to review whatever emotions we have and organize them into memory boxes. After we seal those boxes and archive them, we can forget about them. If necessary, we unseal those boxes and revisit the contents. Otherwise, we can simply focus on the present.
Relocation denotes the completion of a stage in life. After everything was removed, I stood in an empty house, feeling a little sad. At the same time, I’m excited about embarking on a new journey in a new setting.
Every time I move, I have two opportunities to declutter. The first time is when packing boxes. Are things untouched for a number of years? They’ll go to the charity or the dumpster. The second time is when unpacking. If I don’t find a place for them, I should let them go as well. Taking an inventory allows me to sort out what I need and plan what to do with the rest.
