End of Boredom. Day 3: Throw Something Away that you Like

Day three's challenge/activity/whatever was to throw something away that you like. This task ended up taking me much, much longer than I expected. Immediately after typing the second day's review, I read Day 3 and thought, "This will take two seconds. I'll do this tomorrow." Weeks later, I finally do it.

So what was the problem? Basically it boils down to my inherent need to attach a HUGE amount of significance to intangible objects. That, and being broke. Being broke means that I do not have items in my house that I don't, at a bare minimum, "like." On top of that, I have a wonderful family who loves showing affection by giving gifts. That means that even little, seemingly stupid "junk" that I have, it now attached to that family member and object. I also have an uncanny memory for remembering where each and every object has come from AND when, and sometimes even what I was doing, wearing, and what the weather was like, even if I received it years and years ago! So the thought of throwing something like that away was a major obstacle.

A separate issue that come up was that the instructions were to throw the item away. Not give it to someone who could use it. Not donate it to charity. But throw it away. Like it was trash and unusable.

Accepting this book as my challenge, I knew I had to go threw with it. And that's when I realized another issue... one of semantics. What counts as something I "like" but not "love?" And if I picked something that seemed a bit too easy to throw away, does that mean I didn't actually like it enough to count? Is the challenge here to become more minimalist and less attached to objects?

At any rate, after many days fretting over this, I have finally decided. I threw away one of my stuffed animals. It's Dilbert's dog, from the Dilbert comic strip. This dog was given to me by an ex, while I was in my master's program in North Carolina, as a motivator. I've kept him in my office forever, as a reminder that school, or any job, that I do not want to end up in a cubicle, and that people in my life are rooting for me no matter what. There are no lingering feelings of love for that person (outside of friendship) and also no animosity, so I've retained my like of it without any additional emotions being projected onto it. But I suppose it's time to let it go.

Day 4: Success
Changes: None... but I really do need a healthier, lesser attachment to objects...