Don't Be A Hoarder

I have to admit it. One of my guilty pleasures is watching "Hoarders." I'm mesmerized by this show. It just amazes me that someone can live amongst filth and decay and feel as though nothing is wrong with it.

I always thought hoarders just held onto stuff - clothes, tools, old newspapers, etc. Until watching this show I never knew they also lived amongst piles of rotten food, overflowing cat litter boxes, even human waste. It's disgusting. Not only that, it's unhealthy. Often times hoarders struggle to breathe because of the dust and allergens in the air - not to mention the mold. Climbing through piles of their ramshackle hoard can cause an avalanche of junk that could literally smother them to death. It's ridiculous!

But yet, there are people that live like that and can't let it go. Throwing out, what would be to us, trash is like throwing out a family member to them. They can't let go of their stuff. Someone can come along and try to show them how useless and worthless their hoard is, but their minds are so dazed by their mental disease that they only see a priceless, irreplaceable pile of treasures. I just can't wrap my mind around it.

And yet...

How many of us are hoarders?

We say, "I'm going to hold onto my love until I find someone who really deserves it," and then we're cold to our family and friends. We're cold sometimes even to our kids and spouses because once we give that love away, we can't get it back.

We say, "I can't give my time. I haven't had a moment of peace to myself in forever." Then we squander our time on the internet or absorbed in gossip magazines.

We say, "I can never forgive them," and then we hold on to our anger until we're a bitter shell of our former selves.

We say, "I can't show them compassion, if I do they'll just squander it," and then we don't buy a meal for the homeless man on the corner.

If we hoard - not our stuff, but ourselves - we're no better than the hoarder with a house full of junk. We'll become sick and unhealthy. It may not have physical symptoms, but the symptoms are there - callousness, greediness, impatience, loneliness, bitterness, depression, cynical, not trusting... you get the idea.

So what are you hoarding?