Simply FREE doesn't always work!

 Good morning 

Does accepting gifts or taking things that come to you for free does this always work well. 

In my years of living basically low income consciously and aiming for a simple and minimalistic lifestyle I have learned that things that are free do not always work. 

For example I recently was gifted five hens I thought this might be a great way to have fresh healthy eggs while I'm on my property. Turns out that didn't work out so well the person did not know what breed of hens these were and when I did some research I learned that these hens lay very few eggs each year and that they're one of the most difficult breeds to raise because they are very wild birds. At first I thought this might be okay and it turned out it wasn't they roosted in the trees they didn't mind foraging for their own food in fact they prefer that. But they started to try to roost on the roof of my studio or tiny house and they were attempting to fly in the windows and I could imagine them destroying the work that I've done and that I can't afford to repair so it became an opportunity to rethink and regroup and make a new decision. 

 Years ago I was gifted solar panels they were installed on the roof of my old Vantucket. I recall being clear that I wasn't prepared or ready for solar panels at that time but the people around me continued to insist that I needed them. I gave in and allowed them to install them on the roof but asked that they didn't drill any holes into the roof of the van. I drove away from that gift knowing that at some point these might fly off the roof of the van and hit a car behind me and it was so stressful. I also knew that I could not afford to replace them if they failed as well as I could not afford to get an appropriate battery for me at that time. I needed a sealed AGM battery that could be stored inside my van because of my sensitivities to everything. I could not afford a battery to go with the solar panels and so the first opportunity I was in a situation actually at slab City where salvation mountain was taking up a donations to get a solar system for the volunteers so they could stay more time at the salvation mountain site. I drove away thinking about their need and returned and gifted them those solar panels. It didn't make sense to me to drive around with a solar panels on my roof worrying about the damage they could do to a car on the highway knowing that I couldn't afford the other piece of the puzzle to make it useful to me in any way. So I decided that it was an opportunity to give and help someone else as well as an opportunity for me to learn to maneuver my life in a way that I could manage on my own. Which meant that I was going to then live without refrigeration and with a simple way of using my 12-volt system inside the van to keep my cell phone running this was years ago. 

So I'm telling you these stories to let you know that there's no need to always accept the free or to always accept gifts it might turn out to not be useful or not be the right thing for you. 

In my lifetime I have learned many many times things that are good and free and gifted to me often are simply coming through me to go to another person because I have chosen to let things move on from me and to not hold on to things unless I truly will use them. 

I now use a 3-month guideline where if I have not used something in 3 months I set it aside close to the area where donations live in my car or in my studio and I question my true use or true future use of this item if I have not touched it in 3 months and then haven't touched it again for another 3 weeks then I decide that it's time for it to move on and I begin to look for someone who has the need for that particular item and I will let it go. As an example, Bob Wells once asked me to review a USB blender for him. I did the review I thought that I wanted that particular blender I held on to it for over 3 months and I hadn't used it. Bob had expressed an interest in the fact that I got the better blender of the two he had gotten and he thought that he would have used it. So after 3 months I tracked Bob back down and returned the blender to him he was rather surprised I believe but he was very happy because he evidently was at that point having smoothies nearly every morning and he was very glad to have that one. So there's one example of my taking the time to think something over and then letting it go.  it was okay with me and I was very glad to have done that review and to help Bob and other people learn that this was a useful item. Will I ever have a USB blender again, perhaps when I'm ready to use it and then I will get one. And occasionally I find that something that has moved through me perhaps years ago becomes something that I would use more often and then it's time for me to begin to look for one either in a thrift store or to see if I can find a sale or outright buy one and so so that's happened before and it will happen to everybody but things can be had and if they can't be had maybe you don't need them.

To quote The Minimalists "love people and use things"!

Have a great day and

Keep it Simple Silly,

Simply,

Lesa