The Energy Sale

Garage sales, Yard sales....I believe they were once even called junk sales. I think for me, it felt more like an Energy Sale. Why? Well.....

One of my gal pals LOVES setting up yard sales! Not because she's so good at it, but more so because she loves finding homes for things that she knows she doesn't need anymore. Anyone who has ever had a yard sale may know how hard it is to sometimes let things go. Items we may have been holding on to for years. Items that once upon a time played a big role in our lives. Or maybe these are items that once belonged to a departed loved one. Either way, if we aren't using it, why are we really holding on to it? (That of course, is a whole different blog!)

Anyway, here was my hang up.

I had my very first yard sale experience at my own home back in early 2014, per direction of my yard sale gal pal. I had a lot to purge! I'd already sent a lot of things to our local Goodwill, but there were still a lot of items that were hard for me to let go of. If I'm going to be letting go of something dear to me, I want to make sure it goes to the right place...or something close to it!

So I bought special tags and tagged TONS of items that week prior to our sale. I figured everything would pretty much just sell themself and I wouldn't have to engage with anyone.

And so the yard sale day finally came and I felt I did a great job setting up and getting everything ready to go. So I enjoyed the morning sitting with my coffee waiting to sell sell sell! My Sister even came and hung out with me a little bit. All of this was great!

Until......

A very pregnant woman and her mother came up to ask me about the toddler bed frame that I'd laid out on our lawn. I had a price tag on the bed, but still I just kind of kindly shrugged with uncertainty of how much it was....I smiled but....I SHRUGGED!!! I felt bad that they would have to buy something because after all, babies cost a lot of money! I'd feel terrible if they had to buy this item. And so of course, the bed never sold.

Next came a familiar neighbor, whom I'd chatted with a couple times in the past. She found an item of interest and as she held the item up she kindly asked, "how much is this one?" Of course my mind was in panic and I thought, "I can't sell to her. I know her...kind of. I should probably just give that away to her. It's not even worth that much." And since I was just so grateful that she even liked what I had for sale, I felt obligated to offer the item to her for free! She thanked me and gave me a dollar anyway.

Lesson #1: If we give anything away, let it be from a GIVING heart, not a guilty or undeserving one!

Lesson #2: Receive graciously and gratefully, in appreciative moments like these! It's a great FEELING exchange for both parties involved!

Sigh...that yard sale turned out so unsuccessful that I never even made enough to cover the cost of the $20 yard sale permit, the two garment racks, a steel security money box, a long buffet display table and all those cute little display/price tags and markers. Yup, I spent WAY more than I made!

But rather than beat myself up for being so bad at yard sales, I let the experience be my driving force for the next one's success. I still had a TON of purging to do for things I couldn't just give away, So I teamed up with my gal pal because I knew how good she was at these sales!

My second yard sale:

The yard sale happened a few months after I'd lost my sister. I gave most of her things away to our family and close friends, but there was still so much that I just didn't have the room for.

We started out bright and early! My gal pal had signs put up for our sale (that she would responsibly take down later) and supplied us with cloth money aprons. Except...I still had that issue of taking money from people! Would if they asked me to barter with them??!!! In a mild panic, I begged my gal pal to PLEASE be the money person for both of us that day! I just didn't feel prepared for interacting with yard sale buyers and barterers! No way! And so, I was off the hook for any money responsibility and I got to witness what a successful yard sale looked like!

And then it happened...the moment that shifted me completely.

It began with two little girls, accompanied by their mother. These little ones headed straight to a table that displayed lots of fun knick knacks as well as two stuffed animals. One of those stuffed animals had belonged to my recently departed Sister, which I kind of wanted to keep for myself in memory of her. The other apparently belonged to my gal pal who was standing right next to me. (I'd forgotten how just the night before she had texted me on how she was struggling with letting go of a toy animal she had been holding on to.)

Well, the mom bought both of those stuffed animals and gave one to each daughter. Each girl held their new chosen stuffed friend tightly. It was like both girls got the exact stuffed animal they wanted. There was so much love and gratitude in those hugs! I watched them in awe, as they walked away still hugging their gifts. Tears began welling up in my eyes. That was also the moment when I heard a sniffle from my gal pal. I turned and saw she had tears already running down her cheeks! She looked back at me and said, "That was the one I couldn't part with. But that just made it worth it!"

I was reminded of the fact that everything is energy. Money is energy! Things are energy! We are energy! Life is energy!

And so by June 2015, I was ready to purge, yet again. (It just never seems to end!) And this time I would be ready to wear that money belt of courage!

So to prepare, I bought more efficient price tag labels and used a pen, that I already owned! We lost one garment rack but still had the other.

I spent the week prior to the yard sale tagging each item I'd planned to sell!. What was really cool about the time I spent tagging, was I found myself collecting all sorts of things that were just sitting around my home that I no longer needed and so I started tagging those things as well! Yup! Everything I SAW could be sold! Everything I SAW could bring value to someone else! ANYTHING can be for sale! ANYTHING and EVERYTHING can create money! WOE!

And so I purged! I was having so much fun purging with intention that I felt inspired to create a "fun box" for the kids that sometimes get dragged all over town to these yard sales. I filled the "fun box" up with lots of random little items for 10 Cents each. These were items I previously didn't know what to do with. Seriously, the original plan was to mindlessly take what I'd previously viewed as an overwhelming bunch of "stuff", throw it all in a box, then drive it all over to Goodwill so they could deal with it.

But now these items had a purpose! They had a plan! They had an intention! I was creating in a way I've never created before!

And all because I wanted to find homes for things that were hard to let go of. Items that weren't serving me in any way. These items were for someone else now. And I could feel good everytime a buyer was pleased with their purchase. Then as a thank you, they'd pay me for it with money!

And now I get why my gal pal finds yard sales fun! I finally get it!

And although I should probably end this energy blog here, I just have to share one more story from this day.

A very aggressive bartering lady tried to talk me down on my $100 juicer that I was hoping to get $40 for. She wanted to pay me $20 and soon, she'd be trying to go lower than that! Now I loved that she appreciated juicing but...I wanted her to VALUE this precious machine! Since juicing wasn't really my thing (I love smoothies!), I hardly used it. I told her I'd even throw in a brand new unused Juicing Bible book at no extra cost, if she'd take it for $40! She was unimpressed with my offering and was still trying to get this top of the line machine for almost nothing. That's when my gal pal walked in to our discussion. She looked surprised and asked me in almost a whisper so the lady couldn't hear, "That's a juicer?!" I saw it in my gal pal's eyes. SHE was this juicer's new home, NOT this other woman. So when the bartering lady turned away for a quick moment, I grabbed the machine with the juicing bible, and it was now"SOLD!!!" The juicer and juicing bible book were now a gift that went to the one who really appreciated it. And THAT felt good!

Throughout that whole day, I spent time with my favorite affirmation originally taught to me by my mentor Dr. J. Detrick, "Money comes to me easily and effortlessly" and I continuously sold each item with my heart. No guilt, no greed, no regrets or need.

If anyone doesn't like the price, no problem. Just ask. If you value it, you'll probably get the deal you are looking for! (wink wink)

Love,

Elsie