As we age, we are often looking to downsize or eliminate clutter and excess. Many of us embrace the concept of living with fewer things to maintain and that tie us down. The reality is that actually releasing our things can be challenging.

When my husband and I decided to sell the house we built and raised our family in, we moved from a four bedroom, three bath, 4000 square foot house to a tiny two bedroom cottage. I knew that with less space I would need to remove more than half of our possessions. At first, getting rid of things was difficult; I liked my things. Out of necessity, however, I learned to let them go.