How a Good “Why” Can Help You Say Goodbye to Stuff

This summer has been a season of change for us. We’re still loving the full-time RV life, which I like to refer to as minimalism on wheels. But we downsized even more and our lives are better for it. What it took was a good “why” to help us say goodbye to a few things that no longer served us.

It’s not always easy to let go, is it? Especially when it comes to hobbies you once enjoyed, things you keep because you paid a lot for them, and things you’re just used to having around. The truth is that holding on to things we no longer love or use (and maybe never did) dilutes our happiness in the present.

What I love about decluttering is that it helps us figure out what’s really important in our lives – not what was important yesterday or what might be important in the future, but what’s important today. Once we get clear about that, it’s easier to say goodbye to stuff and not look back. The following story about our recent downsizing includes some good reasons to let go of things that were keeping us stuck in the past.

When something you love creates more frustration than joy

When we sold our bricks-and-sticks home six years ago, I was taking piano lessons and wanted to keep playing. I couldn’t take my upright piano with us in the motor home, so I sold it and bought a portable keyboard, folding stand and chair.

I took lessons here and there for the first few years on the road. But with each passing year, I played less and less until I realized that I hadn’t touched the keyboard in well over a year. It was a hassle to set up the keyboard every time I wanted to play, only to have to put it away when I was done.

My piano keyboard literally did not FIT in my present life. Still, I was reluctant to say goodbye because I enjoy playing music. Then one day, I saw a man sitting on a picnic table in the RV park, playing a flute. And I thought to myself, “How wonderful that he can just pick up his instrument and play any time, anywhere.”

Long story short – I went to a local music store and traded in my keyboard for a clarinet. Now that’s an instrument that’s easy to travel with! So now, I have music back in my life and I don’t miss my keyboard at all.

Now I can make music wherever I go!



When you’re allowing your life to be limited

The second thing my husband and I let go of this summer was our CanAm Spyder, a three-wheeled motorcycle that was our only vehicle (other than the motor home). It was fine, except when we rode two-up with me on the back. My knees got stiff after about half an hour, so we had to limit our excursions to shorter distances. Because of that, we sometimes missed out on seeing and doing things on our travels. And if it was cold or rainy? We were stuck at home.

I started dropping hints that maybe it was time to get a car. The challenge was that my husband wanted to keep the cargo trailer we tow behind our motor home. That meant finding a small, lightweight car that would fit into the trailer. Here’s what we ended up with…

Our “new” car at the Oregon Coast

We are now the happy owners of a 1972 MG Midget! Talk about a minimalistic car. It’s only about 5 feet wide and if I dangle my arm out the window, I can almost touch the ground. As much as I loved driving a motorcycle, I wasn’t at all that sad to say goodbye to the Spyder. We can still enjoy the thrill of an open ride, but now we have a more comfortable vehicle with an optional roof for inclement weather.

When you have more than you need

There was just one problem. Small as it is, the Midget is longer than the Spyder was. Somehow, we needed to create an additional two feet of space at the front of the cargo trailer. That was the good “why” I needed to let go of yet another well-loved thing from my past – my road bike.

I’ve had a lot of fun riding that bike all over the United States. Two years ago, I did a week-long bike tour across Iowa (RAGBRAI). This was an event that had been on my bucket list for 25 years. The following month, I rode 100 miles in one day, another bucket list item. But since then, I haven’t ridden my road bike more than 20 miles at a time. And I sometimes went months without riding it.

I also had what I called my “beater bike,” a cheap hybrid bike that I picked up at a garage sale last year. It was more suited for getting around the larger RV parks and for quick runs to the store. I got to thinking, “What if I could find one bike to replace my current two?”

My husband also had two bikes – a road bike he hadn’t ridden in years and a mountain bike. We agreed that that downsizing from four bikes to two would create the extra space we needed. So we went into a local bike store and ended up trading in both road bikes for a new hybrid bike for me. I added special clip-in pedals for fitness rides and a rear rack and panniers for getting groceries.

I figured I’d keep my road bike forever – that’s how I justified the cost when I bought it 13 years ago. But you know what? I got my money’s worth from it. I now have a bike that fits my present lifestyle better than my previous two bikes combined. And I had the pleasure of gifting my beater bike to a member of a local Buy Nothing group. She told me that she was the only one in her family without a bike. So now they can all go for rides together.

Bottom line…

Decluttering isn’t just about creating more space or having a tidier, more organized home. It’s a powerful tool that can help you dial in what you really want and need to be your best self at any stage of your life.

When we’re reluctant to let go of something, it’s usually for one of two reasons. Either it’s something we’ve been holding on to from our past or something we think we may need in the future. When we remember to focus on our present life, letting go gets easier.

Choosing to let go of the things we don’t want or need creates space for possibilities we may never have imagined. Ask yourself: Does this thing add value to my present life? Or does it subtract value? Use your answer to help you dig down to find the “why” that will help you say goodbye.

Photo (top) by  Juli Moreira  on  Unsplash

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