Going..Once.....Twice........Three Times, Sold!

When the end comes for you and me, most of our worldly belongings will be moved into our front yard and within six to eight hours on Saturday everything will be loaded into cars and pickup trucks and hauled away. Yeah, I know, what you and I own is so precious and valuable that children wouldn't dare put it up for auction sale to the highest bidder. Don't bet on it- for good reasons. The fact of the matter is they, most likely, will not have room for it and it won't match anyway. Much of the stuff, widgets, and collectible items we accumulated and stored all those years will be sold for a dime to fifty-cents on the dollar. Some of our stuff will be saved for descendants, and some will be donated to Goodwill, The Salvation Army, or hauled to the landfill.

My mother has many admirable qualities and one is this: If you go through her house and open closets, pantry, cabinets, dresser drawers, etc., you will find them only half full. If you go into her basement, you will see wide open space of floor with nothing there. If you go into her attic, it will be empty. She has maintained a lifestyle of restraint when it comes to buying or accumulating "stuff". She discouraged her children about giving her gifts of stuff she didn't need or want. My father was the same way. I wish I had inherited that trait and I may comment in the future about why I think I'm different. Theirs is a good quality to possess.

I've been to many auction sales and have seen "stuff" that people saved for years, unused. Many of us have a pack-rat mentality. I've been working on changing my habit for quite some time with limited success. However, I did attend last weekend the auction, pictured here, with a promise to myself not to buy anything, no matter the item or the cost value. I succeeded with no problem.

Have a good day!