You know how proud I am that I was able to turn off Schatzi’s (my computer’s) request about making sure I wanted to delete. It really has been a freeing thing that I don’t have to wait for:  “Are you sure you want to delete?” and then have to check yes every single time. Turning this question off was a breakthrough for me, and it has saved me so much time and and annoyance.

Well, let me tell you what happened.

You know I also do personal Godwriting™ every day. For safe-keeping, I’ve been sending these Godwritings to a special gmail account my daughter keeps just for my personal Godwriting.

Yesterday morning, it dawned on me that I should trust more. I should trust that this simple Godwriting is safe in Lauren’s special gmail account, and I don’t need to also save these sent emails — thousands of them — in my Sent Folder. I said to myself, “Why are you keeping all those, Gloria?”

I felt like a genius, and I went to my Sent Folder, highlighted only those sent messages that went to my daughter, and I proudly pressed Delete with a smile on my face.

You also must also know that I keep important papers in my Sent Folder. I’m quick to delete my Inbox and quick to save all precious correspondence in my Sent Folder. My Sent Folder was long indeed.

The next morning I went to look up a Sent message, and, incredibly my Sent Folder was empty. I kept trying, but it was as bare as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. I can only imagine that my highlighting jumped of its own accord to EVERYTHING, not just my personal Godwriting folder, and shredded it all!  It’s GONE, GONE, GONE.

When I was able to stop clutching my heart, and I got myself up off the floor, I was really okay with it. That long long long Sent Folder was baggage.

I said to myself cheerily, “Gloria, what do you really need but God? If you didn’t have God, that would be a reason to anguish.”

I agreed with myself!

Then I had another thought. As you know, I am still struggling with removing all non-essential items from my house. I seem to be really slow about it. I have piles of things to sort through, and sorting through takes so much time, and, as it is, I seldom get around to it.

So I said to myself, “Gloria, what if you just put everything into one pile, and, without looking, just take it all to the Bargain Box or My Lucky Day and let them sort, and let other people be happy to find all your stuff. Think of the time and energy you will save.”

I continued sincerely. “Gloria, look how simple it is in your Send Folder now. You don’t have to hunt for anything. You really could use the same technique with your excess belongings. We could call it the Gloria Just Chuck Everything Method of Decluttering. In one day you could have your whole house a basic blank slate.”

I was listening to myself but was still hesitant.

Then I gathered my common sense and said to myself, “How long is it going to take you to go through one (1) kitchen junk drawer? What do you have in there anyway? You don’t even know. When is the last time you even tried to open it?”

I couldn’t remember. I went to one (1) kitchen junk drawer. I found clothespins, various screws and nuts, some floral powder to keep flowers fresh, pens, post-its, aspirin, a brand new heel cushion, batteries, and some unidentifiable things that I was not yet ready to part with.

So I told myself that I didn’t want to rush into anything, and, I would think about the Gloria Quick Method of Decluttering, and, for now, well, I would just leave things as they are. Of course, that’s what I’ve been doing for some time, leaving things as they are for now.