What happened when I threw out my fifty...

I am a "stuff person" to the core. And so, initially, Gail's call to throw out fifty things scared the crap out of me. But after hearing her speak, I was inspired to buy her book, and then... I heard the "throwing out" calling!
 
My personal throwing-out story:

I did a major purge.  First, there was the clock.  I'd bought it for a friend's bridal shower.  I missed the shower after I was up all night crying over a breakup with a boyfriend.  Somehow, I never got around to giving it to my friend, and the clock followed me to my home, now 15 years later, where I live with my wonderful husband and two children. I'd never chucked the clock because it was so pretty and so expensive, but every time I looked at it, it reminded me that I missed my friend's special event because of my stupid ex-boyfriend. Apparently, I needed permission to get rid of it, and TOFT was just what I needed!

Later, while sorting through some more piles, I found a beautiful painting that my grandmother did years ago.  It was of me, as an eight-year old, feeding ducks on a vacation we'd taken together.  My grandma is now suffering from Alzheimer's, and I treasure finding her painting more than if I'd found a Van Gogh. 

But that's not all...

My business partner and I cleared some professional clutter.  We threw out some very static ideas about the direction in which our business was headed.  We threw out some unrealistic business plans.  Most of all, we threw out the idea that we needed someone to discover us in order to make our success real.

Lighter from all that we'd thrown out, we took matters into our own hands.  And you know what?  It took an astoundingly short time for things to change drastically.  Within two months, our business was transformed, and a few weeks ago, Oprah Winfrey announced that she was giving us our own television program on OWN!  (Right now, it's called "Elura and Michele Take Staten Island -- look it up!).

We are about to start taping.  And guess what? To prepare, we threw out a lot more.  We started with our old wardrobes, which are simply just not fabulous enough for Oprah's channel.  We also threw out the idea that we had to be "someone" in order to, well, be someone. 

Somewhere in this process, we not only felt lighter, but also became lighter.  Down a collective 40 pounds, minus preconceptions about our appearances, our talents, and our likeability, we are on a roll.  As it turns out, less really is more!