Un-Cluttering Day 1

Un-Cluttering – A Year of Figuring It Out

So, it started simply. My daughter and her boyfriend gave us a set of new food storage containers. It was like the children’s book “If YouGive a Mouse a Cookie”. One thing let to another and I realized just how much “stuff “ I have in my life. I know I am not the only one, so I resolve to try to move one piece of clutter from my life each day. I am sure that this will be an interesting journey. One that may help me to look at all the things I do in my life and realize which ones just might be holding me back.

This morning I was going to eliminate the sugar from my coffee, but I failed at that already. With so much clutter in my life I figure that I will deprive myself of the sugar a little later in this game. There are so many things that I have to much of; food, clothes, guilt, shoes, socks, expectations, books, pens, paper, ideas, furniture, broken promises, sporting equipment, cards, …. The list could go on and on. So today I will need to figure something besides the clutter of sugar in my coffee – to remove from the clutter of my being.

I wonder why I couldn’t just say no to the sugar this morning? I wonder why I can’t quite sit still? I wonder why the trinkets, purses, electronic gadgets are so important in my life? I have an amazing life filled with amazing family and good friends. Yet I still long. Is it the call of the media? Is it the aching empty hole that I see on the ads on TV? Is it the constant barrage of emails with offers of products reduced and sales to good to pass up? The advertisement in the mail with a peel off sticker – the offer to good to refuse? So I have blankets and travel bags. I have purses and jewelry. I have more food than I should eat as I must purchase “2 for the price of 1”!

What is it that I will streamline from my life today – and what will the end result be? I hope for less sleepless nights. I hope for making the time to play each day. But I am not sure that I can give up all this clutter – or what I will find underneath all the things.  But I will try. I will try today to free myself from judgment. I will try to speak only good words and eliminate the clutter of gossip and demeaning language. I will start small. I will start with myself. No judgment about adding the sugar for one more day.

Maybe no one will notice. A small start on this journey of un-cluttering, to remove the mess that I create by judging others, by judging myself. Today I will begin by replacing my judgments with kind and gentle words, or better yet, no words at all. That is a start. And if I fail – rather than judge, I will try again with a joyful heart until I succeed.