I started decluttering our lives about six years ago. Our home felt light and minimized, with one exception. A finished room in our basement. We used this room for occasional guests and it was the only real storage area in our home. No matter how many times I cleaned that room out, clutter just kept coming back. It was the room that could not be minimized…or so I thought.

Fast forward to three weeks ago when my 66-year-old amazing father (who is also an equally amazing grandfather to my children) was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. To describe this news as devastating, would be an understatement. My heart broke into forty pieces that day.

It took about .2 seconds for my husband and I to decide he would be moving in with us so we can care for him while he undergoes treatment. The only empty room in our home and most logical place for him to stay would be this finished room in the basement.

This room, which I once thought impossible to clean out, that was filled with things that I thought I couldn’t get rid of or didn’t have another space to put anywhere else, was quickly decluttered in a single afternoon.

Knowing that there is unfortunately a huge possibility that this cancer is incurable and that my time with my dad is short put things in perspective in a way like nothing ever has. All the work I had been doing the past six years to shift my mindset and clear my life of things that aren’t important so I could focus on what is, all of that training was for that moment.

Everything in that room quickly looked like junk to me. None of it mattered. Not one thing. The only thing I wanted to see in it was my father, and whatever he needs to be comfortable as we tackle this sickness head-on together.

I do not wish the situation my family is in on anyone; however, although it has given me heartache, it has also given me a gift. An ability to see with clear 20/20 vision what is truly important in life, what actually matters, and it’s not stuff.

About the Author: Nikki Cox is a mommy of two striving to live life with intention and clarity. Find her at Lovelylucidlife.com.