5
De-Cluttering Your Life
I have a messy office. My office at home is full of all the things I “mean to do,” should have done and am in the middle of doing. It is also full of stuff that has nothing to do with me except I said to someone, “I’ll take care of it.” Going into my office stresses me out. Some days waking up has the same effect.
Part of Getting Yourself Together means being honest with the person in the mirror, so allow me some extra transparency this issue – inspirational Michele will be back next month. Many of us are dealing with the clutter in our offices, homes, bills and relationships. It’s not the office, home, bills or relationships that are inherently bad, it’s how you manage them that creates stress.
Clutter = Undealt With Stuff. Undealt with stuff = Anxiety. Anxiety = A Stressful View of Life, Argumentative Conversations & Minimized Possibilities.
Those are my definitions. My formula for a stressed-filled life is to habitually ignore what needs to be dealt with. What aren’t you dealing with and why?
I’m no psychiatrist, but when there is something we aren’t dealing with my guess is there’s a fear involved somewhere. Are you afraid once you clear out the clutter on your desk that people will think you aren’t necessary or that you won’t have anything that makes you necessary? I know people whose busyness and clutter seem to affirm their sense of importance. “I’m so busy….I’m so busy”, they say over and over again. “Don’t bother me….I’m busy.” Is your clutter protecting you from something you really don’t want to deal with….like a conversation? I don’t have time to talk, because I’m so busy. See, I’m busy so that’s a legitimate excuse. Not today.”
Does the prospect of having a hard conversation make you hide behind a pile of anything but truth? How are you sleeping? Wake up with butterflies in your stomach sometime? Prone to headaches? You might be a tad stressed.
PRIME TIME
I can’t diagnose your individual case, but I can point you to some solutions.
Value your time. Once it’s gone you don’t get it back, so stop wasting it by hiding from what needs to be dealt with.
Value your purpose. Learn to say no even if people think you “aren’t nice.” Someone’s temporary (or permanent) dislike of you can’t compare to the frustration your spirit will experience in not doing what you were created to do.
Clean out your closets. There are things in there you’ve been lying to yourself about. Even if you lost the weight tomorrow, you don’t like it anymore. Give it away. Repeat often. You’ll appreciate the space.
Grow some. Courage, that is. Not talking about hard things doesn’t make it better, in fact, it’s probably much worse.
Grow some more. Having the courage to initiate a hard conversation is one thing.
Sometimes you have to walk away from a job, a relationship or other toxic place of anxiety. It takes courage to know when it’s time.
I’m going to clean my office now.
You are loved.
Michele
PS: Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? (Matthew 6:27) Your anxiety isn’t adding a thing to your life, but I suspect it’s taking away plenty.