I wonder if anybody else is doing this?

Yours sounds like it could be a combo of all the things you mentioned and I am resonating at a deep level- I have been eyeing things and thinking to myself if I was stronger "you'd" be out the door.... lol  I do really want to simplify and unclutter and if anything I have and don't really need or use can bring a smile or bless someone else then why not?  You have the joy of seeing your children use your wonderful gifts and I'm sure that makes you feel good.  I don't think you are feeling like you are going to die soon but I do think, for myself at least, that the important things are coming into sharp focus and that's all I want in my life- we are all going to die- but not today- today we can just BE HAPPY.   It's your journey- do it however it feels right and good to you my friend xoxo  (((HUGS)))

I chuckled when I read the pedal pusher part, Eldri!!!   How Midwestern of you!!  

I'm doing the same thing, and I've been kind of a pack rat. I look around and think, "Whew, this will be a real chore for my husband to get rid of all this."  I also find myself really thinking before I buy anything new. 

Don't know if peddle pushers are a Midwestern thing or not, but that's what we called below-the-knee pants when I was a kid in the 60's in Milwaukee! I think they call them clam diggers now?

I've been downsizing since my kids left home after college. Dowered both of them with enough hand-me-downs to get started in their first apartments. Just before this happened we built our little retirement home near my son and I've furthered down-sized in preparation for having a lot less space than I have now. I think the urge to do this is not so much the cancer as it is our age. We're wiser in recognizing that the more we have the more we have to take care of and are tied down by. After a lifetime of it, we're ready to let go to be free to do other things and make life easier on ourselves. 

MA...amazingly I got disability just a month after I applied for it and began getting checks in October.  Have you looked into it?  On disability you qualify for Medicare in 2 years. 

MAbound said:

thanks

I retired years ago to raise the kids. Wouldn't I have had to have been working when this happened to qualify for disability?

i was only working part-time In my own business.  I would check in to it. 

URmySunshine43 said:

I have been eyeing my

I have been eyeing my overstuffed c!oset and repeating "keep, give away, throw away" in my head for a while. I am not sure it's my recurring cancer or my age (67) or my retired status that is urging me on. Now if I could only find the energy to start! Iwant to make life easier for myself and for my husband. I am an avid needleworker, and am not ready to give up my stash just yet, or my yarn for knitting and crocheting, but I have lots of other stuff (clothes, extra sheets, etc.) that could go to a good home. I am glad to see I am not the only one!

 

I agree it's a function of age and a few other things as much as health status. I'm 59 and my mother died 3 months ago; she'd tried to do some cleaning out before she died, but there was a LOT left for me to do. I think by the time you're well into middle age, as most of us are, you've had that experience more than once and don't want to inflict it on anyone else, which requires we look at our own habits. I am personally responsible for the UPS truck being in my neighborhood several times a week, and I can promise you it ain't all stuff I need. But it was on sale! It's free shipping! And everything wears out after 5 washes these days! I NEED more!! I live in an old house and 1920's closets aren't built to hold all our modern "necessitites", so I'm forced to edit as I go along - but it still piles up. My cousin latched onto that Konmari book and it's actually been a great exercise for both of us, especially the part about thanking things and letting them go. Sounds ridiculous, but it works for me - sort of a spiritual cleansing along with a low-key rebellion against our hyper consumerist society, all expressed by closet cleaning, LOL

Getting diagnosed and treated for cancer subjects us to so much drama....the roller coaster we all talk about. It's so overwhelming that our tolerance for what we used to enjoy: novelty, excitement, etc. is not as appealing as it used to be. Peace and calm is so much better! Don't let anyone make you think there's something wrong with you just because what you want from life has changed. The fact that you feel happy should tell you that these changes are right for you. It's everybody else that needs to recognize that there's a new normal now and that they have to take responsibility for their own happiness rather than laying it on your shoulders. Apologize to no one, Eldri!

I have way too much stuff...weeding things out to give away lightens the load...I swear I think sometimes it would be better to have multiples of the same comfortable item of clothing etc and just wear the same thing over and over as long as it's clean...finding that a simplified life is a much more peaceful life...no point in sweating the small stuff...

derMaus said:

Yes! Simplicity IS better! I

Yes! Simplicity IS better! I do have multiples of some items, as backup when they wear out. Not sure if it makes a difference, though most of my clothing looks alike anyway - long, droopy and black - to such an extent that I once told one of my employees 'You do know I'm not wearing the same clothes every day, don't you? That I do go home and change at night?'. She looked at my like I was nuts, LOL. I guess I'm going to have to rethink the all-black all the time wardrobe once chemo gets going, though, as I think I might end up looking too pallid. Perhaps I will get colored hats...

derMaus, I went the scarf route and actually got to a point where I enjoyed making them part of my wardrobe - not that I'm all that stylish - but it was fun to wear some funky colors and patterns. Hope you have fun with your hats, too!