It’s not uncommon now, at my age, to hear that advice when I visit the doctor’s office. I am past the age and metabolism where my calorie intake is outpaced by my activeness. Heck, eating is often my activeness. Which is why doctors say lose the extra weight, the fluff, if you can. Your body works ideally without extra fat.

I reckon there are corollaries to that advice in other places in our lives.

Certainly, after witnessing what happens to a person’s belongings- and how fast they can be noted, stored, and then gotten rid of, if necessary- following my aunt’s passing has underscored a related truth: you are better off living with a lack instead of a stockpile of stuff, because like the fat on our bodies, living a life carrying an excess of belongings can be taxing on us mentally, and also take some of our flexibility away from us.

I think about this quite often these days, and know that related to my possessions, I sorely need to lose some weight. How much of all of the items that fill my closets, cabinets, shelves, and garage do I really use, or really need? I’d dare say 30%, may 40% at most. I don’t need those 4 backup TV’s in the garage. I don’t need those 2 older coffee makers. I don’t need those boxes of 20 year old bills.

Why do some of us hang on to so much for so long? Some of it, from nostalgia, certainly. Some of it is justifiably stored as “just in case” stuff- reserves for if and when one of our frontline devices or interests goes awry.

But those suits from high school not only don’t fit me any more, but they don’t fit in fashion either.

I need to lose some weight, pretty soon.