Using the things I love

I don't know about you, but I used to hoard the things I love and never use them because I was 'saving' them for 'something special,' or just worried about them getting ruined. They were not necessarily the most expensive items, (in fact, some of these items I got for amazing prices and considered them to be 'trophy items'), but I just felt the need to preserve them. I would take them out once in a while and admire them and then put them carefully away.

I know it seems like there's no point in buying something if you're not going to use it, and people say that "things are meant to be used",  but for me it really wasn't - when I was a child I would 'collect' things and never use them and as I got older, this habit followed me. I thought it was because I liked to collect things but I realized that there was actually an emotional/mental roadblock I couldn't overcome.

When I began to adopt and practice a minimalist lifestyle, I began to purge my belongings, and realized that if I was to keep the things I loved but never use them, I would have to keep more than I needed or wanted to have. This wasn't something I wanted as the intent was to do with less and be happy with what I owned - I might as well have been leaving my happiness on a shelf, or hidden away in a drawer. 

Last year I worked really hard to start using the things I love and learned to enjoy them instead of stressing about them. I started slow, taking some items out for an hour at a time, and then eventually for a day, etc. I began to really enjoy using them and now can say that I am regularly using the majority of my things. I'm still working on a few pieces but I've made vast improvements. 

I would say that using the things I love is a personal goal of mine and to further give me the push I need to continue to do so, I really stress to myself the value of an item, hence, why I track a lot of my expenditures and how often I use things.

Do any of you ever save your things?