Senior Spotlight: Professionals Have Problems Too

One of the most common challenges facing older adults is how to downsize. Can you really decrease your stuff without increasing your stress? Is there an easy way to divide and conquer? While we have covered this topic a ton over the years, today we are tacking it from a different angle. This week, we are sharing the reality of what happens when a professional move manager (yep, someone who helps others downsize for a living!) has to face this monumental task for themselves.

While we share the highlights below, we strongly encourage you to read ‘A Senior Move Manager's Personal Lessons in Downsizing’ on Next Avenue for an even deeper perspective.

If you think we are about to reveal that a professional move manager had the easiest time ever downsizing, think again! In reality, there are 3 things that every downsizer faces – whether they are a professional organizer or not. Check it out:

1)The ‘What-Ifs’ Will Set In. What if I have a large dinner party and need China service for 16? What if my coffee maker dies and I need a back-up on hand? It is normal to second guess yourself on what you may and may not need. You don’t have to get rid of everything – but you do need to prioritize, and then save the rest for later!

“Some things came along for no logical reason, like a bag filled with

panty hose I had worn in my corporate days, 25 years earlier.

I'm not sure how the bag survived in my closet without being

culled, let alone made it to the senior living community, but it's here.”

2) You’ll Strive For Perfection & You Will Fail. This is not meant as a negative, this is meant as a tough love truth. You will wish you could go through every album, photograph every heirloom and clean out every wardrobe from every season. You will try your best – but there will always be room for improvement later. And that is more than okay.

“I learned that perfection in downsizing is not required.

If things made the cut that shouldn't have, it wasn't the end of the world.

I could deal with them later.”

3) The ‘Right’ Time To Downsize Will Always Be A Question Mark. While you are de-cluttering, you may feel like kicking yourself for waiting too long. As you move into your new place, you will fear that you have moved too soon. Could you have sold your home for more by waiting? Could you have found a newer place for less if you shopped around longer? Wondering if you made the ‘right’ choice at the ‘right’ time… it is exhausting. But if even a professional move manager feels this way – you KNOW you are not alone. The timing of the move is going to feel just right in some respects, and uncertain in others. But life is unpredictable, and if you wait until everything falls into place, there will truly never be a right time.

“I learned not to delay moving until timing is perfect. Our timing was perfect, and then it was horrible, but it all turned out okay.”

The moral of the story is that there are some things in life that can be made easier with support, but they will still be hard. You will still make mistakes. You will still question everything. You will still forge ahead and find just what you needed. But in that process, please give yourself grace. It is not just a downsizing recommendation, it is a requirement.

Bobbi Decker
DRE#00607999

Broker Associate
650.346.5352 cell
650.577.3127 efax
www.bobbidecker.com
NAR Instructor….“Designations Create Distinctions”
CIPS, SRS, ABR, CRS, SRES, GRI, CLHMS, REI, AHWD, RSPS, MSLG

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