What's your approach to possessions?

philthygeezer

philthygeezer

Joined
Aug 6, 2002
Messages
746
I'm going through sort of a mid-life crisis right now where I realize I have too much stuff!

My whole approach to 'things' was if I liked them then I accumulated many of them in each different variety. I collected everything as a child and this evolved right into my adulthood. But now I feel like I am suffocating under the burden of all the stuff I've kept.

The problem is that there are memories attached to everything, though not much of the stuff is of monetary value. Every time I open a box and come across a trinket, a plane ticket or a piece of clothing, the memories come back as if it were yesterday! I'm afraid if I purge everything I will lose those memories for good. However, if I keep hoarding stuff, then I'll wind up being a caretaker for mounds of crap, with no freedom!

How do you keep a balance!?
 
Get a nice footlocker and keep all the tickets, stubs from concerts and shell necklaces from the summer of '59. For all the rest, take a quick look, get a digital photo and get rid of 'em on Ebay. The possessions end up possessing you! You have to let go or become a prisoner to the possessions.
 
I'm in the same boat you are! Here's how I handle it. I keep all the memorabilia such as ticket stubs, letters, trinkets etc. in a footlocker. I keep ALL photos in albums. As for the other stuff, if I pick something up and say to myself "gee, I didn't know I had that" , out it goes. Works for me! (and I still have too much "stuff"! :D )
 
Here's something to think about.
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chinese Zen Master, known as Layman P'ang. Upon his retirement in middle age, he gave away his house for use as a Buddhist temple, put all his money and possessions onto a boat in a nearby lake, and sank it. "Since his wealth was great," one ancient account says, "he worried about it. Once he had decided to give it away, he thought to himself, 'If I give it to other people, they may become as attached to it as I was. It is better to give it to the country of nothingness.'" After this, he and his wife, son, and daughter earned their living by making and selling bamboo utensils.

-- from Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell[/font]
Click to expand...
[/font]

[/font]Interesting old guy. Almost all of his contemporaries have been forgotten, but he is still talked about 1000 years after his death.

A nasty divorce changed my viewpoint regarding possessions. Still have a bunch though.

I do like giving them away. I'm not so noble as old P'ang.

The other day I gave my son a gold ring with a star ruby that I bought in Sri Lanka back in 1980. I've worn it most of the intervening decades, and spent a lot of hours watching the light refracxted from the crystal. My son wore it about 3 days before knocking the ruby out. He looked for it but couldn't find it. It returned to the earth.

I thought to be sad, or to worry about losing the decades of memories associated with the ring. But it just went the way of all things. I told my son not to worry about it.
 
When I was younger - long ago, in a universe far, far away - I thought there was merit in the saying: "He who dies with the most toys wins."

Now I think that "He who dies with the most toys is still dead."

YMMV
 
I was the same way. But I tend to purge most of my possessions every few years lately. Mostly because I'm moving around so much.

I look at something I have and ask myself if I've done anything with it over the last year. If not, I give it away.

Alan
 
at some point people end up with the container of their remains...maybe a stone with their name on it maybe an urn to reside in....

the memories of you are owned by others…the only thing you really own, the only thing you take with you is your experiences.
 
One technique:

I was asked to be on a phone bank for a school reunion. I called Joe, who was still married to Eileen, and we chatted about our lives lived. He and Eileen had moved some 12 times in 16 years because of job changes and moves. I was just finalizing the move to Wisconsin and asked for tips.

He said he and Eileen had it down. They each took a cardboard box, and starting in the back of the house, walked through and took those things that caught their eyes...pictures, etc.

Then, he said, they walked out to the car and put the boxes in the trunk.

Then he set fire to the house.




I'm guessing he was kidding, but you know.........

You'll work it out.
 
I grew up not being able to have many possesions because living in a house trailer there just isn't room.
Consequently I don't put much stock in possesions unless it's in a near indestructible form.
I am better at it now than I was when I was a kid and even a young man. There are a few things that people really close to me had given me when I was young that I remember and I wish I had them now.
I can't even remember now what I did with them, but at least I remember having them.
There's a few things I have now that will pass down to my heir's, actually some of them already have. I get too see them when I go visiting.:D
 
At first all I ever had was books. I kept my childhood ones, and then got some from my Dad when he died in '82. Then added to them selectively, and started collecting rare books.

Then I had so many books that buying bookcases got really expensive, and they were crappy quality anyway, so I built my own, which meant I needed to buy tools. I bought more and more tools, then tools to work on my junk cars back in the late 80's and early 90's, and then tools to work on the house starting in '97. Now I have a complete woodworking and auto shop, and way more tools than I need on a daily basis, but when you really _need_ a certain tool it's great to be able to lay your hand on it. Started acquiring more guns in the 80's, and now that is about where I want it, but guns are so expensive that I have put several items on a wish list for the moment (preferring to send all my $ to Reno instead! (-:)

But all that pales in comparison to HI. I collected 4" folders for a few years, and had a nice little collection of 15 or so knives, and then a few Bowies, then some other fixed blade knives, but now HIKV has made all the other things secondary. I just get 2-3 books a month now to fill out various collections, and can't think of too many tools I need, and the guns are on hold because of the expense, but even though I am running out of room the knives keep calling me from time to time.

I know that possessions can end up owning you in the long run. I could get rid of a good half of the books and not miss them too much; get rid of all but a few of my favorite knives and guns, but the tools are something that keep paying off every time I use them, so I will find a way to keep those for as long as I can.

Norm
 
Greetings: Philthygeezer
This is J. W. Kilpatrick here. This earth upon which we all live will eventually be destroyed by fire and it will be replaced by a new heavens and a new earth. ( 2 Peter:Chpt. 3 vs.10 )The only thing that will survive this old earth and pass on into eternity are the souls of men and women. Everything else is going to be destroyed by fire according to the Word of God. Check it out. (Read 2 Peter: Chpt. 3 vs.10). However, things don't end after the event described there, but God goes on to create a new heaven and a new earth as described in Revelation Chapter 21.
With that in view, we should not let our physical possessions get too great a grip on us. We can use them to help meet our physical needs as we struggle through this old world. We can use and enjoy our physical possessions and share them with others and pass them on to our children or whomever we elect to pass them on to. However, it is important to get a good clear view of just how low a priority physical possessions are on the scale of true importance and I am telling you that the true importance of physical possessions is rather low.
As a young man I was wild and full of fire and interested in no one but I, me and myself. However, along the selfish road of life that I was travelling, God stepped into my life and put me through several earth shaking experiences that taught me the above truths. I don't know any of you men good enough to bare my immortal soul to and the earth shaking experiences that God put me through to learn the above lessons, but I am here to tell you that what I am telling you is sure enough true, pardners. I am an older man now (age 64) and continue to get older and rounder, but I listen to God a whole lot better now than I used to as a younger man. God bless you,Philthygeezer. I just hope that God doesn't have to hit you between the eyes to slow you down enough to teach you the above lesson, like He had to do to get my attention. J. W. Kilpatrick
 
J W Kilpatrick said:
Greetings: Philthygeezer
This is J. W. Kilpatrick here. This earth upon which we all live will eventually be destroyed by fire and it will be replaced by a new heavens and a new earth. ( 2 Peter:Chpt. 3 vs.10 )The only thing that will survive this old earth and pass on into eternity are the souls of men and women. Everything else is going to be destroyed by fire according to the Word of God. Check it out. (Read 2 Peter: Chpt. 3 vs.10). However, things don't end after the event described there, but God goes on to create a new heaven and a new earth as described in Revelation Chapter 21.
With that in view, we should not let our physical possessions get too great a grip on us. We can use them to help meet our physical needs as we struggle through this old world. We can use and enjoy our physical possessions and share them with others and pass them on to our children or whomever we elect to pass them on to. However, it is important to get a good clear view of just how low a priority physical possessions are on the scale of true importance and I am telling you that the true importance of physical possessions is rather low.
As a young man I was wild and full of fire and interested in no one but I, me and myself. However, along the selfish road of life that I was travelling, God stepped into my life and put me through several earth shaking experiences that taught me the above truths. I don't know any of you men good enough to bare my immortal soul to and the earth shaking experiences that God put me through to learn the above lessons, but I am here to tell you that what I am telling you is sure enough true, pardners. I am an older man now (age 64) and continue to get older and rounder, but I listen to God a whole lot better now than I used to as a younger man. God bless you,Philthygeezer. I just hope that God doesn't have to hit you between the eyes to slow you down enough to teach you the above lesson, like He had to do to get my attention. J. W. Kilpatrick
Click to expand...
JW,

Thank you for sharing your insight.

One of my favorite quotes is

Lay not up your treasures where moth and rust doth corrupt and thieves break in and steal.
Click to expand...
You know where it's from.

I appreciate your words, and your sharing of experience. It's a lot easier to learn from the elders than to make every mistake over again.

I do have one caution. You may want to offer your wisdom with humility. We have a wide variety of people here, from different cultures and religions. Some will feel uncomfortable if they feel they are being preached at, and some may have prophecies of their own that may or may not coincide with the ones you believe in. I would be dissapointed to see a well meaning offering of wisdom such as what you wrote turn into a hostile or vindictive debate.

Peace be with you.
 
Greetings: Howard
This is J. W. Kilpatrick here. You are absolutely correct about not starting a hostile debate due to differences of opinion as to how each of us view things in life. It was certainly not my intention to start a hostile debate. I simply answered Philthygeezer's question as to how I see things and I certainly don't expect others to agree with my opinions if they see things differently than I see things. I also respect others whose opinions do not agree with my opinions. I am not eaisly offended just because others don't agree with my opinions. I respect their right to see things the way they see things and would like for them to respect my right to see things the way that I see things. Seems like that is an honest and fair position to take. Please forgive me if I offended you, Philthygeezer. I did not mean to offend anyone nor did I enter my post with the intention of offending anyone. I was just answering the question from the way that I view life. At age 64, I clearly understand that a lot of people don't agree with how I view life, but that does not stop me from giving my opinions as to how I see things. Peace, J. W. Kilpatrick
 
My dad bought me an expensive custom knife for X-mas years ago. I lost it while hiking in the woods one day and felt terrible. I went back and combed every inch I'd traveled over and found it late in the day.
My girlfriend told me I should keep it in a safe place so I wouldn't lose it again. I did that for a while and realized it only gave me pleasure when I took it out and fondled it every six months or so. I made a decision to carry it whenever possible and run the risk of losing it again. It gives me immense pleasure to wear it almost on a daily basis and probably tickles my dad pink whenever he sees me with it. The risk of losing it seems more than worth it.
 
I live by the following curse:
- Is it potentially useful?
- Can you make it yourself?
If the answer to the first is 'yes, and the second 'no', it usually gets kept.

I gots lots of stuff. Unfortunately, sometimes a situation like the following happens:
About a year ago, something happened which none of you will be able to understand. I had a bunch of khuks, and no place to store them. So I thought "I need a big drawer." Good drawers need slides. I had some very nice slides; they were CPU rails from my first job (yes, there was a time when CPUs were large enough to require pulling them out on rails.) I'd kept them for about 30 years, and they finally came in handy.

This is unfortunate because it sort of justifies the curse.

As for books, I also have the same ones I grew up with. And every other one I've bought since then. I reread some of them, and who knows, maybe someone will want to borrow one.

I don't consider myself owned by my possessions. They just get in the way sometimes. And I still buy stuff. Right now, I'm eyeing a mortising attachment for the drill press. Do I need it right now? Well...

Phil, the 'stuff' ties you down only if you let it, or if it's too much to store/keep. Either way, don't sweat it.

And it ain't 'crap' if it brings back good memories.
 
Sutcliffe said:
My dad bought me an expensive custom knife for X-mas years ago. I lost it while hiking in the woods one day and felt terrible. I went back and combed every inch I'd traveled over and found it late in the day.

I made a decision to carry it whenever possible and run the risk of losing it again.
It gives me immense pleasure to wear it almost on a daily basis and probably tickles my dad pink whenever he sees me with it.
The risk of losing it seems more than worth it.
Click to expand...
Sutcliffe I don't blame you for carrying it. That's what your dad bought it for you to do and I know it tickles him when you use it because it would me.:D
I made a knife back in '74 and finally gave it to my son a couple or so years back, see previous post.;)
The knife is promenintly displayed but never used and that saddens me although I am happy that my son is proud enough of it to display it.
I gave my grandson a knife a dear friend gave me she bought and brought to me from Sweden, she is a native Swede.
It's a small pukko and all a person needs for dressing a deer in the field.
I told him that he had better use it or I would take it back.
I get tired of giving knives to see them put away and not used.:grumpy:

As far as losing it and it being irreplaceable I would investigate the probable cause for the reason I lost it to begin with and then take steps that it not happen again.
Usually means a new method of carrying the knife. Maybe the original sheath isn't secure enough?:confused:

You're a good son.:D :cool: :D I'll bet your dad is very proud! :D
 
J W Kilpatrick said:
Greetings: Howard
This is J. W. Kilpatrick here. You are absolutely correct about not starting a hostile debate due to differences of opinion as to how each of us view things in life. It was certainly not my intention to start a hostile debate. I simply answered Philthygeezer's question as to how I see things and I certainly don't expect others to agree with my opinions if they see things differently than I see things. I also respect others whose opinions do not agree with my opinions. I am not eaisly offended just because others don't agree with my opinions. I respect their right to see things the way they see things and would like for them to respect my right to see things the way that I see things. Seems like that is an honest and fair position to take. Please forgive me if I offended you, Philthygeezer. I did not mean to offend anyone nor did I enter my post with the intention of offending anyone. I was just answering the question from the way that I view life. At age 64, I clearly understand that a lot of people don't agree with how I view life, but that does not stop me from giving my opinions as to how I see things. Peace, J. W. Kilpatrick
Click to expand...


It's all good. Thanks for your perspective J.W. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top