The Purge

I am a pack rat. I love "stuff". I print out "stuff", I keep "stuff", and I have waaaaaayy too much of said "stuff".

So I'm purging.

In more ways than one.

My company is moving to Columbia, MD in a little over 3 months. Like me, there are others in my company who have a lot of stuff, but the company doesn't want to ship everyone's stuff. If you look closely at it, it's junk. It's not stuff. There is no value to it.

AHA! But there is!... isn't there??

See, that's the mindset. We need to keep it. We need the documentation. And as soon as we get rid of it, we'll need to reference it.

Uh huh. No more. So we're purging. They're bribing us to get rid of our crap with the promise of a happy hour. The floor who gets rid of the most crap (by weight) wins a 'free' happy hour. That is a pretty good deal since the people here love to drink.. and eat.. and drink more.

I've been with the company since 2002 and had stuff from that long ago as well as a few things from the guy who used the filing cabinet before me. Some of those items included a performance review and a copy of his signed acceptance letter (including salary) when he joined the company in 2001. Gone. I had about 10 binders of documentation of everything I've billed from 2004 until now. Trash. Anything that wasn't dated mid-2006 to Present was junked. *Wiping hands.. tapping the 'Easy Button'*

So why can't everything be this easy?

How come I can't go through my files at home, my stack of race T-shirts, or my other "stuff" and get rid of it so effortlessly? I don't need the promise of a happy hour; it's the fear of possibly needing it as soon as I get rid of it. I had that same feeling with my storage unit until I called 1-800-Got-Junk 2 yrs ago. I paid the $$ and almost shed a tear as they tossed around and tore up my coffee tables and other items I'd been 'saving for when I find the right place'. That was my stuff. But it was just that.. stuff.. with a lot of sentimental value attached to it. To this day, I couldn't tell you what all was in that 10x10 unit, and I don't really miss it.

I couldn't tell you all the race shirts I have, so why hold on to them any longer? They are taking up space. All those training articles and printouts that I want to save and read.. will be outdated in a few months. I'm looking for something to make the purge easier.

Along with getting rid of excess 'stuff' in my life, I'm trying to get rid of excess food in my diet. It's probably good timing with Lent occurring during the middle of my training, but I'm hoping to abstain until after my race. I'm trying to avoid sweets, candy, chocolate, desserts, etc from now until Easter. Yes, I have a weakness for a pint of ice cream from time to time, and a Snickers bar during a training run, but I know that avoiding those things *should* help me drop weight, which *should* help me out on the course.

Lugging around 170 lbs gets tiring after 36 hours, and I'm hoping cutting weight will equate to cutting time.

Let the purge begin.