Organizing stuff

I don't really"do" New Year's resolutions, but in January 2008 - I decided that I would like to get my stuff more organized. But guess what? I got to thinking - if I don't have the stuff in the first place, I won't have to spend all that time organizing it all. What you are looking at - in this photo - is my floor to ceiling PILES of empty plastic containers. What you don't see is the 4 good sized and 2 smaller cardboard boxes because I threw out the cardboard boxes - obviously I don't need them if I have all these plastic ones! That is all the "stuff" I got rid of this past year. I did a little bit every month.
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All through the year I've been slowly emptying containers. Goodwill, passed on, handed down, some to the dump - all gone. As I emptied a container - I would fit a smaller one into a larger empty one. And put it back from where it came from. This past week I was curious as to exactly how many empty containers I had so after the Christmas tree was put away - I stacked all the empties in the corner. Ta-Da! That is all "stuff" I won't have to organize anymore!
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I still have 3 totes of photos - this coming year I hope to do something about that - whether I weed out the excess or scan the favorites, or buy some digital photo frames - I would like to get those 3 totes down to 1. And I have 3-4 totes of random stuff- those odds and ends (like my high school diploma, old coin collection, costume jewelery, childhood dolls, etc.) I never can seem to bear to part with. This coming year I would like to get those totes down to just 1.
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For the New Year - I am still thinking about what my "goals" will be. I am thinking along the lines of schedules and structure... things that most people don't really like, but in the long run really make your life so much easier. I'll mull it over for another week or so before I come up with a game plan. Whatever I decide - it won't be an overnight process - just like my slow and steady progress in emptying all those containers wasn't. It probably won't be something easy for me either - getting rid of stuff wasn't easy. But I am happier for it. Change isn't always an overnight process, but something that we must make a conscious decision to do, to try, to sometimes flounder, but then remember our goal - get back on track, and keep going. Keep your eye on the prize!