Pack Rat

I really hate throwing anything away unless i feel completely cluttered.  I get attached to everything so when i give stuff away its usually forced and i'm not very willing. I'm a bit of a pack rat. When I was little I had one Barbie doll that i thought was the prettiest Barbie i ever saw. She had flaming red hair and the cutest face with the best outfits.  I played with her everyday and she was the main character in all the stories i made up.  One day i came home from school and I couldn't find her anywhere. I looked in  all the shelves in my closet, above my closet, under the bed, in my moms room and she was gone.  I never actually figured out where she went but i think that my mom gave her away along with all my other toys and old clothes.  I was really upset about it and i got mad at my mom for giving her away but eventually i got over it.  I figured that some other less fortunate kid will have her and be extremely grateful.  Now i when i see children who have barely anything i compare that to what i have so whenever I go back to the Philippines i try to give away as much as i can to those who need it and this helps them AND me get over getting too attached to unimportant things.  When I went to Peru with some of my classmates we visited kids who were all HIV positive and we gave them donations from fundraising all year, we also gave them clothes and some toys that we did not need anymore. Today i still have a hard time giving or throwing things away because in a sense i feel attached or i feel that they will become important or useful to me in the future.  But going to Peru or seeing homeless children in the Philippines I think of how much I have and how much i can give them and help them in that way.