I don't give up on old things easily. A good example is clothing. I have a closet full of old clothes I once wore but cannot wear now. For the most part, even if I were able to shed 80 pounds so I could wear these old clothes, many of them are pushing 15 - 20 years old at this point and would make me look a bit peculiar if I wore them. But yet I cannot give up on them. I hope beyond eternal hope that I will be able to wear them again -- to bring them back out into the light to their intended purpose.

(This whole clothing issue of mine is coupled with a lot of sentimentality as well unfortunately. Being a fairly "visual" person (memories are triggered by what I see), I tend to attach a lot of sentimentality and memories with clothing ... whether it be my old clothes or the clothing of loved ones. I have hung onto a number of old clothing items just because of the memories they evoke. And, of course, it is hard for me to ever get rid of anything Evan wore when he was younger!)

I guess that this difficulty with giving up old things shows a resistance to change. Funny how I think of myself as being pretty progressive and forward-thinking yet, when it gets down to brass tacks, I obviously have issues with change.

I just don't give up on things easily though ... could be clothing, processes, habits, even people ... I don't like to give up on anything. Except cars ... I would have a new car every moth if I could. (Okay, ignore the fact that my last two cars actually have been the same make and model.)

But yesterday as I did something I haven't done in awhile, I had a realization. I did some painting. Not as in oil paints and watercolors creating great masterpieces type of painting but as in run-of-the-mill outdoor painting of some trim around the house. I have always enjoyed painting. I just don't do it very much anymore.

As I painted though, I saw the fresh color change and liven the wood. New life was suddenly breathed into something so weather-beaten and worn that it previously looked like it was destined to become fodder for a campfire. The end result looks very good even I do say so myself. And now I am seeing all sorts of things I want to paint ... old things that can be changed or replaced for the better.

Giving up of the old, I am learning, is sometimes imperative for a better future. Sometimes the old may not even be that old ... it may just be a mistake I have made or a habit I have picked that needs to be quickly abandoned ... for that desired future.

Oh, I will always cling to certain things I am sure ... and that is not always bad. Not everything old is bad ... but hopefully a new perspective will bring about a willingness to cast aside the "old" and change when change is good.