By Ciji Ware, author of “Rightsizing Your Life: Simplifying Your Surroundings While Keeping What Matters Most” (Warner Books/Springboard Press, debuted Jan. 2007)

There’s a downside to downsizing, in my view…because out there in the real world, there is no “one square footage formula fits all.” The truth of the matter is that as people advance in years, their needs and desires begin to change, and often their living space requirements change right along with that.

For some that does, indeed, mean moving out of the family house into a smaller home or condo. For others, however, it could suggest adding on a bunk house to a cabin in the woods that’s shifted from a second home to a primary residence–one suddenly in need of room for visiting grandchildren.

Instead of depressing downsizing, I say choose “Rightsizing Your Life!”

What’s so “Right” about Rightsizing?

Rightsizing doesn’t mean smaller, it means better. It means choosing the best from a collection of “nice-to-haves” so that you end up with only what you use and love.

The third act of our lives

We can begin to determine what the third act of our lives will look like by putting some time and thought into imagining the “perfect” rightsized life. What are we doing now? What are our housing needs now? Not when the kids were home or you had a regular nine-to-five job, or owned a big dog—but right now, this minute!

In other words, what would you like to rightsize to? This is a very important part of designing the last third of life for, as organizing coach Michi Blake of Santa Barbara says, “unless you have a really clear view of yourself—your likes and dislikes, your abilities and disabilities, your preferences and your I-don’t wants—in other words, who your really are now—you’ll tend to fulfill other people’s expectations.”

Are you ready to Rightsize?

Get ready to rightsize by considering the emotional attachments you have to your things and decide if they truly have meaning in your life as you are living it currently. The first step is to gather “like-with-like.” Assemble all your glassware on a table so you can survey it…or corral all your pieces of luggage before you begin deciding what to keep and what to toss. When poised to start editing a group of your possessions to create those imagined “perfect” surroundings, ask yourself these six simple questions:

Do I love it?

Is it useful and in good repair?

Do I use it now?

Is it beautiful?

Is it sentimental?

Is it valuable?

To be a “keeper”

Rightsizers answer “Yes!” to at least two of those six questions for the item to be a “keeper” and make the cut if, whether you’ve decided to move to smaller quarters, or just want to lighten the load of an overabundance of clutter in your life.

Your “I Love it, I Use It, I Can’t Live Without It” guide

Just remember, the meaning of an object can serve as a guide for

determining whether or not it’s truly a “favorite” thing and deserves a spot in your new surroundings. Continue to survey your possessions with these guidelines in mind:

• If you’re moving, can you use it in your new home?

• Is it the right shape, size, style, or type of object you prefer?

• Does it have meaning for you on an emotional level? What and why?

• Is it valuable while also meeting the other criteria above?

• Can a treasured household possession be creatively repurposed to meet a need in the new home, e.g., a fireplace log bin converted to hold plastic recycling buckets in the kitchen?

For the things that don’t make the cut, consider selling, either

by yourself at a tag sale, on eBay or craigslist, through newspaper

ads, by hiring professionals to hold a large sale on your premises,

or by placing your goods in a consignment shop or auction house, or post on Freecycle.com where you give it away to the person with the most convincing email!

The all-important “Don’t Have A Clue For Now” pile

When you hit an item whose fate you simply can’t decide at the moment, don’t let it bog you down and slow your rightsizing momentum. Put in it temporarily in a pile you dub “DON’T HAVE A CLUE FOR NOW.”

Chances are a solution will come to you after a day or two. Surveying 50 red-and-black feathered Mardi Gras masks, I eventually picked the two beauties we’d worn on the last Fat Tuesday we’d celebrated prior to Hurricane Katrina and made a kind of shrine of them, along with pictures of my husband and friends in our glorious costumes. I gave the other 48 masks to a local theatrical troop.

So, just remember there are creative solutions for every problem when you rightsize your life. <<

Ciji Ware is the author of “Rightsizing Your Life: Simplifying Your Surroundings While Keeping What Matters Most”