This post by Erin at Unclutterer.com really spoke to me. I am this same way and it has gotten in the way of things! She explained it perfectly…. I couldn’t have written it any better so I’m quoting her here:

You don’t have to be the best

When I was younger, I studied ballet. By the time high school rolled around, I was spending 16 hours a week at the ballet studio, and that number would easily double when we were getting ready for performances. I wanted to be a prima ballerina and I poured most of my free time into preparing for that goal.

Then one day, I looked in the studio mirror and realized I wasn’t the best dancer in my company. I was technically proficient and extremely graceful, but there were at least two other girls who made me look like I had never taken a dance class in my life. These girls were exquisite, and a part of me knew that I would never be the prima ballerina as long as they were dancing.

So, I quit.

After 13 years of eating, studying, training, and living the life of a ballerina, I walked away from all of it without any notice.

I rarely talk about my time studying ballet because I am embarrassed by how it all ended. I can’t believe that I was so arrogant as to believe that if I wasn’t the best, I wanted nothing to do with it.

What surprises me, though, is how often I turn to this flawed logic. Maybe you do the same thing? I didn’t take up running until my mid-30s because I knew I was a slow runner. It never crossed my mind that I might run for some reason other than winning a race. I never thought about the benefits of the exercise, how good I would feel while running, and that I might love running just for the sake of running. I missed out on decades of running because I wasn’t going to be the best runner. Ugh.

I run into this type of all-or-nothing absolutist thinking a great deal when talking to people about uncluttering. They see it as a dichotomy where a person will either be organized or disorganized. They don’t try to get even a little clutter out of their lives because they can’t get all clutter removed. They know that the prima Unclutterers will always be “better,” so they don’t try at all.

The humbling truth of the matter is that there will always be someone who is better at doing something than you are. Thankfully, uncluttering isn’t a competition and it doesn’t require you to be the best. It doesn’t matter if someone does it better than you do. You don’t get rid of clutter for someone else, you get rid of it for you. Comparing yourself to another person is unnecessary; you only need to look at your life and your needs to decide what is best for you.

Thanks Erin! Here’s a link to the original post.

I have been reminiscing lots about my life lately after being reunited with some old friends on facebook… it has been interesting and fun, and has made me realize how much stuff i’ve actually FORGOTTEN! I feel stumped and worried, wondering if there’s a way to sort out a time line of my life and try to piece together some of my stories and memories and help bring some back. I wish I could “google” my life and find out what happened and when. There’s just no way to do it! It would be up to me to write it all, somehow in a database or calendar format. I did a little research on software to find something simple to use to organize all of the junk and bits and pieces of memory.

I figured I could try to remember things by googling the facts I know about the timeframe — for example, I knew I went to camp and we did some dance performances to Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. I just couldn’t remember what year it was. Well that should be easy right? Google the music and piece together the year, what summer it was, at least… I thought, OK i can do that, but where to put this info? How to “jot it down?” fearing i’ll forget it again… I also felt compelled to write some notes about that summer at camp — I’d dislocated my knee, and we’d had a food fight in the cafeteria… hmmm what other memories might come up as I write? I am thinking this might be fun to do!

As i researched i came across a bunch of software packages that were detailed, and looked very comprehensive, but I have a problem with things not looking “clean” and if it is too cluttered it won’t make me feel like I’m getting organized. It’s all about user-interface. I don’t want to get stressed out as I clean up and organize my life memories…

I found a site that I am going to try out and see if it will work. I have probably 1000s of fragments of memories, and am not sure how the “timeline” they create out of these bits will work. But I’m going to try it and see if it will help me get it going. I think it is still in beta though, but it looks clean and simple and easy to use: xtimeline.com

I can hardly believe it is the day after Thanksgiving already. I am doing a little browsing/shopping online to maybe buy a few gifts. I have seen some good stuff, and have put things into “shopping carts” but haven’t checked out yet.

Every year I try to keep it simple… I’ve got a list of people to shop for, I think I’ve got everything under control… but there are always things that pop up — like a hostess gift, or I see something for someone that isn’t really on my list but I just want to get them something :). The toughest is the kids… This year they are emailing me wish lists to choose from which will help tremendously. I’ve warned them that money is a bit tighter this year. It’s not easy for me because I really do just want to splurge on them. 

One of the toughest things of all is not buying stuff for myself when i see it. Am I nuts? I can’t be doing that! This year I made my own email wish list for my Birthday gift back in October. It is awkward to say the least… to put a list together of things I want. It feels so princess-y to do it. I feel self-conscious like “am I asking too much?” But seriously, awkward as it is, it is a good idea to let people close to you know what you like, it helps everyone to find a gift that will be “just right”. I always get so happy when I KNOW i am giving something they will like instead of HOPING they will like it. It is so fun to get them something they love.

So make a list, and get lists from your peeps!

at re-nest, they’ve got a million fantastic ideas of how to reuse everyday things. I haven’t spent much time reading over there, but came across this, in contrast to some of the maybe-not-so-great ideas at martha’s site (mentioned below)… on top of that, the reader comments add more ideas to the list. Bonus tips.

ideas included: use for water, bring coffee to work, store grains, coins, soup, bring food for lunch, use as a drink shaker… flavored oils, the list goes on because of the great reader comments. I am now inspired to de-label and re-use my tomato sauce jars. 

I have a box of mason jars in the garage that i bought to put leftover bits of paint into. The paint cans always seem to rust or gunk up and the jars are supposed to prevent that… reading the re-nest blog reminds me that there are things around us that can be used and you don’t need to go buy something every time you need a container.