"The person with the most X wins!"

You've seen it on bummer stickers and t-shirts. The X might stand for fabric, pictures, money, clothes, jewelry, or toys. We often laugh when we see the expression. But what about the "expression" when having "the most X" turns into anxiety, despair, seclusion, unsafe conditions, health concerns, injury or death? "Not likely" you say. See if any of these scenarios sound familiar:

• Car accident caused by clutter falling from passenger seat
• Person found buried under the items in their basement
• Emergency Medical Technicians couldn't get help to person because pathways were clogged
• I felt angry with my parents after they died because I had to go through all of their crap
• She fell and broke her leg because there was so much stuff on her stairs
• His severe asthma was caused by the dust mites & animal dander that hadn't been cleaned in years 

All of these statements are based on true life stories. In each case, having lots of stuff didn't serve a person well. In fact, in many instances, it negatively affected not only the person but their friends or relatives.

Let's see if we can change that X into something that creates joy, pleasure and safety. Stephen Covey states, "The key to life is not accumulation; it's contribution." So what if X were:

• donations to the local foodbank
• memories of fun times with family and friends
• books donated to the library
• trips to learn about the culture of other people

Accumulate memories, donation "credits"or volunteer hours, not stuff. Start small. What is one physical item that you can choose to replace with an activity or donation? For instance, instead of buying a book at the bookstore, I will donate one that I own and have already read to my local library. What will you do?