The things of this world not only clutter up our houses, they clutter up our lives. We put our heads down and push through the chaos, only to raise our eyes and think, “Sunday again?”
The problem comes when we keep doing that; when Sunday comes over and over, and we’ve just been reliving the same days in our cluttered, driven lives.
I can’t do it any more. The time has come for me to stop…to take action.
No one else can change me.
I can’t blame anyone else for my failure to act.
I can’t wait for someone to push me to action.
To that end, I am initiating the great-clutter-bust-up at my house. I’m following the advice of a recent Kindle read,
Declutter Your Life: Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity, and Enjoy Your Clutter-Free Life
by Michelle Stewart. In this book, she advises a series of measures to help you declutter permanently. What I took away from this book was
1) take lots of pictures – document your journey. Too often we become discouraged because we can’t see just how far we’ve come
2) limit your activity – keep decluttering to just 15 minutes per day. Don’t get burned out because you spent all of your energy all at once and can’t bear to face it again
3) be consistent – one 15-minute decluttering session doesn’t do much good. A week’s worth, or a month’s worth, or a year’s worth? we’ll see
4) celebrate your successes – look back at those pictures and congratulate yourself on reaching a goal. Don’t wallow in it, though…use that success to push you toward the next goal
I’m a little scared. I like doing things for myself privately, so no one knows. This, I’m putting out there. I want to be accountable. I want people to email me, or Facebook me, and say, how’s the decluttering going? Show me the pictures, baby! I want that lurking in the back of my mind, so that I will follow through.
Most of all, I want to stop all of my running. I’ve been running for a while now…in the wrong direction. I’ve been living the same week over and over again.
No more.
I’m taking each day as a gift.
The gift of time, to teach my son, not just to argue over his reluctance to do his schoolwork.
The gift of love, and of friendship, to nurture my soul.
The gift of my body, with all of its quirks and problems. It is what God has given me. I will thank Him for His gift every day, and ask Him to help me grow to love it.
The gift of God’s love, mercy, and provision for a whole 24 hours.
In this new appreciation of the gifts of each day, I’ll be initiating the 15-minute-clutter-buster. I will dedicate the first 15 minutes of each day (post-coffee, let’s be realistic here) to reducing the stuff that has so easily beset me.
This is going to be hard for me. I become distracted easily. I forget what it is I am trying to accomplish.
I need you. Will you help me?
Seeking More Through Having Less 