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.

你知道什么是悲伤吗?

20年来，我保存了所有的大学课程笔记和课本。两个半的大学学位：那可是很多很多的资料。

糟糕的是，我很不容易地将它们带在身边，至少经历了七次搬迁--- 相信我，它们并不轻 --- 但我一次都没有再翻看过它们。

它们被放在我们的地下室，上面还有覆盖着厚厚的一层土。如果书和纸有所什么想知道的，它们一定会想知道，为什么这么多年来一直都被存放在楼梯间?我将计划对它们做些什么呢?它们的好日子什么时候到来?

是的，好日子最终还是来了 --- 只是与它们预期的不同。妻子比我适应改变的能力较强，最终说服我去收拾这一团糟。

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.

我所经历的痛苦也是意料之外的。我对早已久远的教育带来的激动时刻并不会觉得怀旧或者痛苦。不，伤害是来自那些曾经写过的纸，以及对坏学习习惯、不成熟、对尴尬的缺乏理解所勾起的回忆。

甩掉包袱实在是太好了。下次搬家的时候，就不用再带着那些尘土飞扬、脏乱的东西。

但是现实发生的却是对个人过去的清理。

最初，我也有些挣扎。结果是被记录着的 --- 在我的书里、我的笔记里、以及经过我一手书写的资料里，记录了我生活中一段重要的时光。清理它们也就是在清理过去的结果。

这一切的改变是直到我学习了：过程远比结果更重要。

I feel as if much of my real education has been a direct reaction to flailing about 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.

我觉得真正的教育大部分都反映在我对大学时光的挥舞。这些过程没有被记录在资料中，而是在我的身体里面。

所以，我很高兴能够从这些体力负担中释放自己。心灵鸡汤：没必要重温痛苦的回忆，作为学习，它们已经过去。

你可能要考虑做类似的事情。

不久前，一个非常聪明的人创造了一个新节日 ---  Discardia!--- 每年庆祝4次。这是一个伟大的想法，每一次我都会清理一些东西，然后在身体和心理上都感觉到非常的好。Discardia的口号是“放下一切不能使生活变是更美好的事物!”

还在什么垃圾存放在你地下室的楼梯间下面?或者在你的心里?

让它去吧!让你的生活变得更美好。