No More Procrastination: Clean up Time!

I put it off as long as I could.

The other day a good friend of mine came to visit.  We talked about the usual things: politics, finances, growing old and collecting-specifically toys and comic books.

Like me my friend has accumulated quite a stash of collectibles-more than the room to display them in.

I mentioned to him that in a mere three years I'll turn 70 years old and it was time to start thinking of downsizing my collection.

After my friend left I kept telling myself that there was no need to downsize now-I had plenty of time.  The problem is-I don’t.

I’ve grown old and to be honest things aren’t as easy to do as they used to be.

I get tired quickly, hurt longer and take more time to heal, forget things frequently and I’ve come to realize if I don’t do the things I want to do now, there will come a day when I can’t.

So...I decided to clean out my man cave.  

First I tackled my comic books and surprised myself when I cleared out ten long boxes of approximately 3,000 comic books.  

 I made a place in the garage to store them and come this next summer (or sooner) I’ll put them out to sell at a yard sale.  I may even take a few to my local used bookstore and use them as trade.

Next I went through all the toys and figures I had in my room and weeded out over 100 Sideshow 12-inch figures and other assorted toys.

I went to a few local stores and picked up some banana boxes and (like the comic books) stored the toys and figures in the garage to sell later.

While I was in the garage I went through the toys already stored there and picked out a few toys I wanted to keep.  

Between my man cave toys and the toys in the garage there is veritable stack 12 feet high, 8 feet deep and at least 20 long.  Add to that to the trading cards and other collectibles stored in the garage and I barely have enough room to park my car in a two-car garage.

I’ve already taken one box of comic books to the used bookstore, given three boxes of magazines to a friend at church for her daughter and son-in-law, sold a long box of magazines and comic books to my friend and put aside a box of toys for him to purchase later.

I’m on my way, but I still have a long way to go.

It felt good to get something done and now comes the really, REALLY, hard part.

I need to go through what comic books and toys I kept and glean more out to sell.  Ouch!

My wife and I have talked about getting older and what we plan to do.  As it stands now we will probably downsize to a condo or smaller house, sell or give away many of our belongings, travel more and set things in order for when we pass on.

It is our sincere hope to have things set in order for our kids so they don’t have to deal with much when we die.

Life is uncertain and there’s no telling which one of us will go first.  Regardless, we've planned ahead and hopefully the transition will not be as difficult when it comes to finances and the like.

It’s true when they say that you can't take it with you.  My wife and I know where we will spend eternity.  We’re both Christians and saved and we often remind each other that this life is just the beginning.