De-clutter Your Life

I am partly preaching to myself here.  Clutter can cause more stress than the activities in our lives.  Have you ever just been sitting on your couch and looked around at your dis-organization and felt a tightening in your chest?  This happens to me often, and I have to spend a day getting my house in order.

I know I have mentioned this before, but I clean out my closet four times a year.  At the beginning and end of each season.  So that is actually one place in my house that stays organized.  I can't, after all, tell clients how to organize their closets, and not do it myself.

I was reading an article in Yoga Journal about how you can't really practice yoga in peace when you have piles of mail everywhere and a sink full of dirty dishes.  I took away some wisdom from this article and wanted to share it with my 2 readers ;)  "...I try to apply the 'one in, one out' rule:  If I bring something home, I have to get rid of something else.  And yet clutter still manages to sneak through.  When I'm trying to pare down my belongings, i ask the classic questions:  Is it beautiful?  Is it useful?  Is it deeply meaningful?  Have I enjoyed it in the past year?  Plus, I invoke a freeing gem from a friend:  'It's possible to accept the essence of a gift but let go of the object."

I love this statement!  I will be using this forever with clients.  I can't tell you how many times I have had people hold onto something that they never use/wear, because it was a gift from a loved one.  This make so much sense to be able to hold onto the love from the giver, but let go of the tangible gift.

Lent is a perfect time to get rid of things that separate us from God.  How about trying to get rid of one thing a day for the next 40 days?  Or how about each week during lent, tackle a different area of your house (pile of mail, kids closet, email inbox, bookshelf, etc).  Maybe even incorporate prayer while you are doing it and then give away the things you no longer need to those who do need them (almsgiving).  Simplify your life and see if you are able to breathe a little easier.