Editing Our Life's Gobbledygook
I love the word gobbledygook! And it is a real word.
I first learned of it in a writing class in undergrad. We were to write a paper about a specific topic and then go back and look at every single word to see if it added meaning. It was an eye-opening exercise. It was incredible how much clearer the message was when you cleared away the extra words. While a simple process, it was impactful.
The transition from our earlier years to mid-life and beyond is sometimes referred to as moving from the “accumulating” years to our “editing” years. As we experience more and more in life, we tend to become clear about our values, what we like and what serves us well. And at this point we begin to refocus our life in many ways.
As I move through the editing phase of my life journey, I realize that as I am “clutter clearing” my house, I am removing the gobbledygook of my life story. No wonder I love this process so much. (Yes, I also love to declutter my house!) It, too, is a simple process and yet impactful.
Many people will downsize their homes in their 60s, 70s or later. This can simplify their lives in many ways – less expense, less maintenance, less yard work, and less cleaning and upkeep. Who wouldn’t sign up for that? In the process of downsizing their home, they downsize the contents as well.
Even if now isn’t the time for you to downsize your home, I’d like to suggest you eliminate all of the “gobbledygook.” These are the many things you have accumulated during previous chapters of your life, things that add no value to your current story. Perhaps viewing your life’s “stuff” as having played a role in a previous chapter will make it easier to distinguish what can be edited or deleted and what still provides meaning in your life.
This process can be difficult. Letting go of physical items is often associated with eliminating the experience or phase of our lives. But, in fact, that story has already been written and will exist forever; you don’t need to possess the artifacts to make the experience real. As a matter of fact, sharing those artifacts with others – whether you sell them or donate them – frees you to write more stories.
So, as you move into this new phase of your life, why not try to edit your current story by removing some of the gobbledygook. Perhaps start with the chapters that would most benefit from an edit.
If children are part of your story, you may have an attic full of things that aren’t adding value to your life at this point. Sort through all of it to see what can be donated or tossed, keeping only those items that bring you joy (if everything brings you joy, focus on what brings you the most joy). And if something can be donated, it’s better to donate it now rather than later. No sense in storing it for five or ten more years before you allow someone else to use it.
What about the sports you participated in when you were younger? Perhaps baseball or water skiing are no longer your thing. You may think that that hanging on to those bats, balls and gloves isn't a big deal, but if you have too much retired sports equipment around the house, suddenly it's clutter that doesn't support your current life. Take a look through those items. Save one or two if you will use them in the backyard with your grandchildren, but pass the rest on to someone who can put them to good use.
What about all of the hobbies you’ve enjoyed over the years? Perhaps you upgraded the tools as you went along. No need for the old stuff. Perhaps you don’t do the hobby at all anymore. If you were to start up again, you’d likely buy the latest tools. Time to delete those items.
And, speaking of upgrading, you may find that over the years you’ve upgraded a few things around the house. Did you keep the old items, just in case? You can safely toss those. And all of those projects around the house? If you kept the leftover supplies and tools, even though you promised you would never do that again, it's time to move those things along.
These are just a few examples of where you can begin to edit your life. Ideally, you will go through your entire house, garage, sheds and storage units. The feeling of paring things down to just what serves you well will be notable.
All of the stuff we have around us consumes time, energy and money.
Those are three things I value, so certainly wouldn’t want to waste. We may think the things we have “stuffed” away in a closet or the basement don’t hurt anything, but they might.
Just imagine. What if the only things you had in your house were things you love or need?
When you glance around a room, there is no clutter. You have things you love or need with space for new things that present themselves.
When you open a cabinet, you see things you recognize and use on a regular basis.
When you open the garage door, it welcomes you and your car with open space!
When you need to find something, you know exactly where it is.
Then think about what you won't have.
You won't have extras of things you’ll never use, broken items, and mysterious bits and pieces you no longer recognize.
You won't have things you’ve never really liked but never did anything about. You won't have a storage unit you’re paying for in order to store things you’ll very likely never use again.
You won't have boxes and closets full of things gifted to you by family and friends who have passed away, things you know you don’t want.
You won't have things that fall on you when you open a cabinet or closet.
You won't live with the worry that someone will have to deal with all of this “stuff” when you're gone.
And there are other benefits:
The calm. You will feel the difference when all of this stuff is gone and you are surrounded only by things you love and need.
Easier housekeeping. The less you have, the less there is to clean and keep tidy.
More enjoyment of the things you really love when they are no longer scrunched next to things you don’t care for.
The pleasure of giving or selling items to others who have a greater need for them.
Reduced chaos in your life. Too much “stuff” does cause chaos.
More time to enjoy the things you really love.
The contentment you feel every time you go into an area that you have decluttered.
I get that this can seem overwhelming.
As you have a bit more time, focus on the edit and enjoy the benefits from here on out. Clearing things out will give you a fresh start for the many adventures ahead. That seems like quite a payoff to me.
And just as with editing a paper, you may need to take several passes at it. Go through things the first time and delete the obvious items, the low-hanging fruit. When you've done that, do another pass to see if there are other things you can delete as well.
The edit phase of our lives can be one of the best.
With all of the great opportunity ahead, don’t be held back by failing to do a proper edit of the things in your life that may be standing in your way. Free yourself up to live your dream retirement. Make the story of this chapter as crisp as it can be.
About the Author;
Lori Becker is living her passion as an Author and Certified Retirement and Financial Coach with Becker Encore Coaching – working with individuals as they make the transition from their career’s work to creating their best life through Retirement Lifestyle Planning. If you would like to learn more about Lori’s work or have her speak to your organization, you can reach her through her website.
