We recently decided to use the good silver every day. It feels great.

Years ago, my wife received monogrammed silver flatware from her mother, who is now sadly gone. (Her mother had had her own silver, which was stolen; she use the insurance money to replace it with silver mongorammed with her daughters’ initials.)

For decades, we’d been eating with stainless steel cutlery bought at Macy’s. It was fine. The good silver only came out on special occasions, like Thanksgiving.

After we moved to our new home, we made the decision to take the silver out of its case and use it every day.

The good silver feels good in your hand. It looks great. It’s perfectly balanced. And it makes every meal feel like a little celebration, even a simple bowl of cereal. I wish we’d done this long ago.

What are you saving that you should be using?

When I was a child, my grandmother had plastic slipcovers on the furniture. We kids always thought it was a bit silly. Why are we sitting on uncomfortable plastic? What was she saving the couches for?

We and our kids beat the crap out of our furniture. We used it; we used it up. Lots of that stuff never made the move — it was just too worn out to bring to our new home.

I don’t regret those decisions at all. It is better to enjoy your belongings than to preserve them.

What are you “saving for a special occasion?” The nice dress? The fancy jewelry? Champagne? Vacation time?

If you use them, you might ruin them. You might not have them for later.

But if you don’t use them, you won’t get the joy of experiencing them.

Life is short. Special things are meant to be enjoyed. Use them up.