Borrowing and Sharing are good ideas but...

So borrowing and sharing are on my mind.

For example, I had a couple of  carabiners that I used for various connecting purposes. Since I'm getting rid of my rock climbing gear, the carabiners should go too. But my wife has commandeered them for use with our clothes line. She hooks the basket of clips onto the line so that there's no need bend down all the time. Here's the question,  what if I use one of those carabiners at some point next year?

Maybe I should just make sure I completely get rid of all things that were once mine. It could be easier to avoid "giving" them to family members and then using them later on.

Comments

[AnnMarie]

But that would be so wasteful! Family is family, don't take things away from them that they are now using simply because it used to once be "yours."

The answer is simple: DON'T USE THE CARIBINER.

[Jean]

If your wife is using them to save her back while hanging out clothes, they're no longer yours to give away. They're no longer rock-climbing gear, but clothespin- holder clips. It's your job not to borrow them back and re-purpose them.

[Adie]

I agree with the comments above. If your wife is using them to good purpose, then that's where they should be. Besides, after your year is up, what if you do want to use them again once in awhile?

[Dave Bruno]

Wow. That struck a cord. Alright, we'll keep the carabiners and I'll only use them to hang laundry, which I just did.

[Thomasina]

Hang on. Surely the plan is about ownership? There must be all sorts of things that you would happily borrow without qualms?

In you decided, for example, to give away all your books, then you would still be borrowing books from the library and from friends when you needed to carry out research or wanted to read for pleasure. You just wouldn't be owning the books.

And I imagine it would be ok to borrow one of your wife's pegs if you needed it briefly for something, surely?

So similarly, if you were to borrow one or both carabiners (which are now your wife's) for a specific purpose and fixed time, what could be wrong with that? The fact that these items used to be yours or that you gave them to her is no longer relevant.