Do you know what’s sad?

For twenty years, I saved all my college course notes and textbooks. Two and a half college degrees: that’s a lot of paper.

Worse, I carted them around — and trust me, they weren’t light — on at least seven moves. Yet I never once looked at them.

They sat in our basement, covered in a thick layer of dust. If books and papers could wonder, they’d wonder why they were still under our stairs after all those years. What were my plans for them? When would the Big Day come?

Well, the Big Day eventually did arrive — only it was different than expected. My wife, always more accepting of change than I am, finally convinced me to recycle the entire mess.

The pain I experienced was also unexpected. I didn’t feel nostalgia, or suffer pangs for long-lost magical moments of my education. No, what hurt was to come across those terrible papers I’d written, reminders of poor study habits, immaturity, and an embarrassing lack of comprehension.

Good riddance indeed. I won’t have to lug those dusty, filthy things on our next move.

But what really happened was a purging of personal history.

Initially, I struggled with this. The truth is in the record — my books, my notes, and my papers were primary source materials, documenting an important time in my life. To trash them was to trash the truth.

What I’ve learned since taking this leap is that the lesson is more important than the truth.

I feel as if much of my real education has been a direct reaction toabout during my college years. The lessons aren’t in the documents — they’re now in me.

So I was glad to free myself of this physical burden. And the psychic one too: I don’t need to relive the painful moments, as the lessons have now sunk in.

You might want to consider doing something similar.

Not so long ago, a very smart person created a new holiday — Discardia! — to be celebrated four times a year. It’s a great idea, and every time I clear things out, I feel better physically and psychologically. Discardia’s slogan is “Let go of everything that doesn’t make your life awesome!”

What personal rubbish lurks under the stairs of your basement? Or in your mind?

Let it go. And make your life awesome.

你懂悲伤是什么吗？

20年来，我留存了大学生涯中所有的课堂笔记和教材。两个半等级证明：不过是一张纸罢了。

糟糕的是，我用车子将他们打包－它们真的不轻－至少要7次搬运。然而可惜的是，到目前我一次都没有看过他们。

它们被放置在我的地下室中，上面铺满了厚厚的灰尘。如果它们会思考，它们一定很奇怪为什么它们还待在楼梯上这么多年。那么我究竟要怎么处置它们？什么时候会到我真正安放好它们的那一天？

好吧，这一天终究是会来临的－但它丝毫和我想象的不太一样。我的妻子，总是比我更善于去接受改变，最终是她说服我去回收这些东西。

我所感受到的痛苦也是我没有想象到的。我不是因为怀旧，也不是肉体上长期缺失的对那段学习时光的遭遇。不，真正让我受伤的是当我瞄到那些我曾写过的纸张，让我想起来我糟糕的学习习惯，幼稚，和因为不理解而尴尬的场景。

的确我释然了。我不用去除去这些灰尘，50件东西我们接下来要搬。

真正发生的是往事记忆的清除。

一开始，我纠结，我挣扎。真相就是这样－我的书，我的笔记，我的文件都是最初的资源材料，纪录了一个重要的时期。抛弃他们就好像抛弃了真相。

我想我学的到的东西比真相来得更为重要。

我感受到我真正收到的教训赤裸裸地鞭打我的大学时光。这些教训没有被记录下来－他们就在我心里。

所以我十分感谢我身体上的释然。心理上也是：我不必再体验一次那些痛苦的瞬间，因为我学习到的东西已经深深陷进我的脑海。

你可能想要去做一些类似的事情。

不久之前，一个十分聪明的人创造了一个假期－diacardia－每年庆祝四次。这是一个很好的主意，每年我清理过事情之后，我的肉体和心灵感觉更好了。这样的假期有一个口号，让糟糕的事情远离你的生活！

有什么私人的东西潜藏在你的地下室吗？或者在你的脑海里？

让往事随风，未来很好。