Keep the Best

Thumbing through some photography tips this afternoon, I came across a great thought:

"Keep the best; discard the rest." 

 I really feel that quote applies to many aspects of life as well. Growing up with a mother who couldn't throw anything away, I have inherited the same tendency to hoard things. I think it is a product of poverty, when you don't have much, you hang on to everything because you never know when you are going to be able to afford a replacement.

It's a crippling habit because you end up with a bunch of junk accumulated throughout the years. The irony, is all that extra stuff you can't let go of, ends up making your life worse, not better. With regards to photography, the advice was specifically talking about only keeping the best images and getting rid of the rest. I think that advice is fantastic. I keep endless "outtakes" because they all captured a moment of time that is now gone. I can't bear to part with them. But why do I clutter up my computer with files, clutter up my house with boxes, clutter up my days with activities when I should only save space for the things which are the best.

It reminds me of the scripture in 2nd Nephi 9:51

"Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy."

You could replace the word money with time for a new perspective, "do not spend [time] for that which is of no worth." Whatever currency you use (money, time, space, energy) you should not waste it on things that have no real worth or value. Instead spend your currency on only the best pursuits in life. It's like the post I wrote a couple months ago about looking for the good. But now, instead of just finding the good I also want to edit my life and get rid of the bad or the wasteful.