Taking care of things

CEBU, Philippines — Looking after and taking care of your things is pretty easy to do, actually. Especially if you give it some effort and it eventually becomes a habit. Well, it may seem hard to do at first, because there are just to many little ‘possessions’ too keep track of.

But those pieces of Crayola or the pencils, scattered about after use, can simply be put in their box.  While the ‘stray’ items may seem numerous, it often only takes a single action to tuck them all in. It’s the discipline to put things back in their proper places after using them that’s a little hard to acquire.

Consciously taking certain positive actions can go a long way in making sure that belongings last longer and don’t get lost. For instance, washing the lunch box after lunch or snack and putting it back neatly in the bag will prevent such little task from being forgotten. In turn, the little action in cleaning the used lunch box right away can prevent it from smelling bad upon reaching home after school. A foul smelling, unwashed lunch box takes more effort to clean and may not be used again altogether, since certain smells are hard to eliminate.

Little things like putting shoes and umbrellas and schoolbags in their right places help a lot in making the home look neat and orderly. More so, it makes it much easier to find things when they’re needed. And things begin to turn a bit better, which will encourage for the practice to be sustained.

Properly handling the house appliances also helps. Moving the electric stand fan carefully prevents it from toppling over and being damaged. Regular dusting of the TV set as well as the other appliances keep these looking nice and in top shape.

A TV remote on the floor is very likely to be lost if not returned right away to where it should be. One sock is useless unless its pair is found.  Leftover food spoils if not place in the refrigerator in time.

Taking care of things could mean savings – because things could last longer or don’t get lost and there’s no need to spend for their replacements. If it becomes a habit, the little amounts saved could add up to a huge sum in the long run. And the accumulated savings could well be used for other needs.

And yet, there’s one significant benefit to gain from the habit of taking care of one’s own belongings. A person who sees the value of his or her own belongings will also value the belongings of others. He or she is most likely to respect others’ properties.

There are also positive psychological benefits from taking care of one’s belongings. In many ways, it’s like taking care of oneself. One feels good doing positive things.