Rightsizing Your Life

Book excerpt: A practical, down-to earth guide for streamlining your possessions and making time for the things that matter. Whether it's going from the multi-bedroom suburban house to the city condo, or from a country and city house to one cozy cottage, millions of Americans in the coming years will face the task of planning a shift to smaller or more practical quarters, paring down a lifetime of possessions and furnishing their new lives with things that have meaning. This simplification of surroundings and "stuff" will liberate people in mid-life to pursue their passions such as travel or hobbies without the responsibilities of a big house weighing them down. Rightsizing will be more than a handbook about the process of planning a new environment, jettisoning a lifetime's worth fo surplus household items, and moving painlessly into a more suitable space. It will also be the first comprehensive guide to the emotional passage that this winnowing process entails, providing a prescription for the internal hurdles that can easily sabotage sensible decision making.