Prompt: 11 Things. What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?

At first reading this post seems like a great idea.  At second reading, well, I’m just overwhelmed!  11 things?  and for each to answer the question, how will getting rid of it change my life? 

I decided that the 11 things must all be connected to one big thing.  My big thing that I want to get rid of for 2011 is negativity and self-doubt (really the same). 

What things bring about self-doubt?

1.  Worrying about what other people think

2.  Having too high of standards for myself

And that’s really as far as I can get.  So the next thing that brings about self-doubt is trying to come up with 11 things that do!  So maybe I need more “things”?  Am I thinking about this too abstractly?  Should I consider getting rid of 11 actual things?

I COULD get rid of 11 pieces of clothing or shoes…

I have done pretty well this year giving away clothing that doesn’t fit or that I don’t wear, but I am sure I could get rid of more.  I won’t list them here, but let’s assume there is a jacket or two, two skirts, a few shirts, two or three pairs of pants, and likely 2 or 3 pairs of shoes that I haven’t worn since moving to St. Louis OR that are just too big (yay!). 

How will getting rid of these 11 items of clothing change my life?  Well, honestly, the thing that Chris and I fight the most about is probably general household chores.  Neither of us is terribly neat, but due to my self-doubt (see above, particularly reasons 1 and 2) AND due to the fact that I would truly like to live in a neat house, I am constantly bugging him to clean, feeling guilty for not cleaning, or (on occasion and in desperation) cleaning up. 

If I have 11 less items of clothing there is more space in my drawers and closet to put OTHER things away, which might make the rest of the house cleaner.

Outcome: less fighting with Chris. 

And bonus outcome:  less self-doubt over cleanliness of house!

Well, gosh.  This is starting to sound pretty good!  Maybe I need to get rid of 11 things from EACH room….I’ll make a note in my resolution draft