As I started to sort through the mess inside, I found a couple dozen unused pencils that I've been dragging around since high school. Mostly fancy round pencils; the kind that were sold individually back then. Holographic, rainbow, marbled pastel, etc. There were even a couple brightly colored neon pencils with my old Credit Union logo. I got those when I opened my first checking account at 16.
I remember why I never used them. I couldn't bear to actually sharpen the pencils because they were too pretty. I wanted them to stay nice and new. I was also the kid that, given some stickers, would not stick them on anything. I'd continue to use tiny old crayon stubs rather than 'ruin' a new box of crayons.
I clearly had issues.I see that same 'saving' trait in my older son. He will unwrap a gift, but not open the box, because he likes the thing to stay new. He usually gets around to playing with the toy, but sometimes I will find a small gift - like a matchbox car - still unopened months later. He is the same way about his favorite candy. Only recently did he finally eat the last bag of Skittles from the pile that he bought at summer camp in 2010.
My younger will use the heck out of something but will not easily give up the destroyed leavings. Broken pencils, a random leg from an action figure, a toy car with no wheels, etc. He is the rare person that actually will find a new purpose for the object.
As an adult, I've made an effort to be more of a Use It or Lose It person. There is really no point in holding onto things that should be useful but are just collecting dust. Not even "in case I need it later". 99 times out of 100, you won't. That other time, you'll swear and gnash your teeth about it. "If only I hadn't thrown that out two years ago!" Heh.
I didn't toss the pencils, btw. I'm going to use them. For real this time.
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