"YOU CAN'T REACH FOR ANYTHING NEW IF YOUR HANDS ARE STILL FULL OF YESTERDAY'S JUNK." ~ Louise Smith
It's been a few months since I wrote on my blog, LEAD ON, because just as Louise Smith writes, I've been removing "yesterday's junk." Of course, it's not really junk, but, I have been removing anything that's standing in the way of moving forward in living the life I'm destined to live. I find that physical clutter leads to mental clutter and that often clouds my vision and hinders my progress.
In January, I was moved to de-clutter while putting away Christmas decorations....that's also when I began the process of evaluating and prioritizing my goals and personal growth plan in an effort to move forward in 2016. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and as excited as I am to plan and prepare, shop, decorate, bake, wrap gifts, and enjoy family and friends, I always feel a sense of nostalgia when it's time to pack up the ornaments, decorations, and gifts and return them to the basement until next year. Many of our ornaments provide a trip down memory lane. They include Hallmark ornaments of a cute beagle puppy, reminding me of our little Casey, a yellow lab, the sweet reminder of our yellow lab, Suka, as well as crystal angels and of course the angel tree topper. Also boxed away are sports related ornaments, a Milwaukee Brewers baseball, IU and Purdue ornaments, Indianapolis Colts football, (can you see that I'm surrounded by sports?) and beautiful china Hawaiian ornaments from Kauaii and Maui. The most precious of all, though, are the handmade Courtney and Brandon special ornaments they made in kindergarten....Yikes, how time flies!
In February the cleaning out and purging process continued. We are "empty-nesters" and as a result have 2 bedrooms which once housed our two sons, along with their left behind clothes, collectibles, and belongings. Although I had removed a lot of items after they moved out on their own, it was a time for a massive purging. My husband was on board (he did most of the hard work) and together we finished the task. I came to the conclusion that deep down I didn't want to "toss away" what was for me, treasured memories of each child. The truth, though, was they had outgrown everything, grown up and moved on to new seasons in their lives, new, exciting, and life-changing seasons for both of which I am so proud. I boxed the most special items, returned some to the original owner, and donated the remainder to charity. One shirt even had the original price tag! What remained was an organized, spacious closet, and a true sense of satisfaction - a freedom of sorts, that something new was on the horizon. We need to celebrate the past, yet embrace the future!
Albert Einstein states so beautifully, "Out of clutter find simplicity." When we simplify and remove the clutter, our vision becomes clearer and the path before us is suddenly within our reach. Eric Harvey and Steve Ventura are authors of a book entitled, "Forget for Success." They suggest that, "Our brains are like closets. Over time they are filled with things we no longer use - things that don't fit. Every once in a while they need to be cleaned out." Isn't that true? Do you have a closet that needs to be cleaned out? Harvey and Ventura go on to say that, "Cerebral baggage weighs us down. Our baggage includes everything from once valued beliefs and practices that have outlived their usefulness to misinformation and misconceptions that we've accepted (and even embraced) without much examination or thought." Are you holding on to cerebral baggage that needs to go? Maybe you prefer Maxine's more humorous perspective found on one of her cards, "I always find something I've lost when I do my spring cleaning. This year it was my mind!" We need to laugh at ourselves and put life in perspective because out of all that we experience, the best is just around the corner."Robin Williams used to say, "Spring is nature's way of saying Let's Party!" Are you ready to let go of the old and embrace the new? Will you join me in CLEANING OUT THE PAST...PACKING UP THE PRESENT AND PREPARING FOR A MUCH BETTER FUTURE?
Let's journey together...
LEAD ON!
Carolyn
No comments:
Post a Comment