Day 47 - We See Not, Therefore We Want Not

As part of de-cluttering our lives we need to self-monitor the things we allow to entice and tease us via our email In-box. As a blogger, I read other people's blogs and subscribe to them if I find they interest me. Same goes for 'newsletters' from different entities. I get one from HGTV, I had a couple of gardening newsletters, I get a few from different ministries, etc.

We all get these from time to time but it can be a time thief and trickster to entice if we are not careful. I say this because I just deleted an email and 'unsubscribed' from a business which  I previously made some purchases. Now, I get a catalog in the mail and daily emails from them. I peruse the catalog and "oohhh and ahhh" over all the things that tickle my eyes. The 'crafter' in me sees things I like and starts to ponder ways to duplicate it in a more economical way because I have neither the expendable cash nor the inclination to pay the big bucks for them. The email I deleted informed me I could get free shipping if I ordered over $125 worth of stuff today! That's what I need...more stuff!! NOT!

So, from time to time, we need to de-clutter 'time-wasters and spend-enticers' from our In-box. If you receive a regular email from a business or newsletter (we are NOT talking about the emails you get from me - LOL) and you know you are not going to read it because there are 15 of them still unread, then unsubscribe from it. It only takes a click of the mouse and you no longer have to feel guilty about saying to yourself yet again...I'll read that later. No you won't, you know you won't. You intend to but you won't.

I've tried all the organizational tricks of creating folders to move them to for future reading and then I either don't move them or they go gather cobwebs in that folder. I've learned the simplicity and gratification of unsubscribing. I do have folders for the blogs I read that I love, have learned from and want to reference later. I use those regularly but that number is few. The rest go away. So does the guilt of seeing them unread as if they were taunting me. I do not need that and neither do you. Remember, we are on a quest to simply our lives and control our environment rather than have it control us. Chances are, if we do not have the time or desire to read something now, we will not have the time or desire to read it later either.

Simple Life is all about prioritizing that which has or adds value to our life and shedding everything else. We can more fully appreciate what we have when we are not always being tempted by those entering our private world via our in-box to buy more, spend more. We see not, therefore we want not...we can only be content when we refuse to let 'stuff' be important. There will always be more stuff out there.....let it stay there.