My wife’s visiting her parents and took our daughter along. I’m missing them a lot… but also see the silver lining. With 2 ladies out of the way, I’m seizing the chance to clear out a lot of the junk cluttering up closets and storage space.

Where I’d hear objections right and left, I now enjoy a quiet silence. And so, as the house gets neater and less cramped, I also have a chance to think.

There are 3 kinds of stuff in the home.

Perishables have a definite life-span, often short. After that, they stink. An example is the moldy piece of cabbage and the half bottle of spoiled milk I just cleared out of the fridge.

Consumables are what you use up. Like shampoo, orange juice or toothpaste. You buy them, and they get consumed. The containers or packaging becomes junk that needs to be thrown away to keep the home clean.

Durables are longer lasting. They are semi-permanent, and become a part of your everyday life around the household. Furniture, TV or that treadmill you never use to exercise, but watch with regret as you glance down at your spreading waistline are examples.

But though they are more hardy, there comes a day when it’s time to say goodbye to them.

Very few of us develop a strong attachment to perishables. Some forms of consumables can create a passion, addiction, maybe even obsession. And you learn to live with durables, even if you don’t really like them so much.

What’s the point of this post?

Remember, I said I had time to THINK while cleaning up? My thoughts ran to the similarity of our character traits, feelings, emotions, and habits to the junk around our homes.

We have perishables like youth, beauty and the most critical and unforgiving one of all, TIME.

We may try to hoard perishables - but that will never work. We sometimes even become emotional about them, without realizing they are transient and will be shortly replaced.

Then there are consumables. Like hobbies, travel and fun times. And the one most of us think about - money. These consumables can give immense pleasure or entertainment while they are being consumed. But once they are gone, all that’s left is the ‘wrapper’ of fond memories.

And then there are durables. Like Love. Character. Principles. Passion. Integrity. Relationships. They shape the way we live. They define everything we do. And we make them the axle of our existence, moving around them, basing the other things we do upon them.

From time to time, we need to take the time to clear up the clutter in our minds and lives too.

When you do it, what do you focus the most on?

• Is it the perishables that you look at, even though they’ll anyway be gone soon?
• Or are you more worried about consumables, because they are pleasurable?
• Or do the durables take top of mind position and get the most attention?