The past takes you away from the present

As an organizer, I often sort through the belongings of people who have passed.

While sorting through their items, I ask myself, “What can I learn while going through these things that will help me make changes in my own life?”

One change I’ve decided to make is to stop saving things for “someday projects.”

For many of you, someday projects include totes full of greeting cards to go through, boxes of vacation memorabilia to revisit and old calendars to review ... someday.

I have discovered these someday projects rarely get done and in the end are tossed.

So this past week, I decided to tackle some old calendars of my own.

My experience going through them surprised me. I thought I would love looking back through my life and being reminded of those things I’d forgotten. Instead, I mostly felt bored or had feelings I didn’t care to revisit.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve lived a rich life, but when I went through my old calendars they were mostly filled with routine tasks like doctor visits, haircut appointments and sport practice times.

They also contained days I don’t want to remember, like the day my father died or the time I had to go into the hospital after a miscarriage. They contained stressful times, like when we put our house on the market and had to get it ready for showings while caring for four small children.

I discovered facts like how long I’ve been in my book club. I realized information gleaned from these calendars didn’t really matter to me.

I also realized that most of the important stuff listed in those years I remember anyway, for example, my wedding day, the birth of my five children and the day I opened my business.

The biggest lesson I learned by reviewing the past is that it was taking away from my present. Since I was so bored going through these calendars, I decided to multitask and review them while doing something else.

They came with me to the pool and my son’s baseball game. Instead of relaxing or enjoying his game fully, I was focused on getting through as many calendars as possible.

I encourage you to join me in reducing the number of someday projects in your home. You may discover, like I did, that they aren’t as important to you as you once thought.

Think about it, saving stuff you think you should do someday may just be weighing you down from doing what you want to do today.