Pieces Of Me...: Lighten Your Load... Clear Your Stuff!

Got this article from a friend's blog... I need to do these.

De-cluttering your inner life

Slow down - The first thing to do is slow down. Life is not a race you need to run. There is no finish line or final destination, life is just a journey that continues even after your death. Remember that Freedom and Happiness cannot come where a mad race is being run after a seemingly elusive goal. Dare to slow down your life and step out of the rush to do more and more, possess more and more. Too much activity kills joy, so never mistake frantic activity for genuine progress.

Choose your focus - In life whatever you focus upon grows....this is a fact, so chose to focus upon what you want in life, rather than what you do not want! You are the creator of your life experience and you do it through what you choose to focus on. Many of us can tell with passion what we do not want in life, but do we know what we really want? Be clear about what you want and focus on this. Keep your mind free from all things you don’t want to manifest for by thinking about them and carrying them around, you are actually helping to manifest what you don’t want. This is a powerful truth that can change your life completely should you choose to apply it.

Live for today, fully - Live life with the principle of "just for today ..."

Yesterday is only alive in your own mind; the future is yet to materialize. The past cannot be changed and the future is yet uncertain. Don’t worry about what's not under your control, work with what is. In this moment lies your true power to decide how you want your life to be. If you live in the past or the future, something that’s beyond your control, you lose the Present, the Now, that is in your control! A much better way is to enjoy the now and take positive steps in it ...thus creating a brighter future.

Look inward, not outward - We see the world as we are ....not as it is!!
If you do not like what you see in your world...accept personal responsibility for it and make choices followed by actions to achieve the life you want. Stop seeking happiness and joy externally; you will only have it when you create it within you.
Your external world will change when you change yourself, and not before. Once you accept this responsibility, you will be free from blame and complain.

Count your blessings - This is one of our favorites. All of us have things in our life to be happy about, along with the things you have not to be happy about. As we mentioned above, whatever you choose to focus on grows in your life. So if you count your blessings and look to the sunshine....you do not see the shadows of life. Counting your blessings also makes your blessings grow. Don’t believe us? Well, just try it to see its truth. So make it a habit- write down 10 blessings and each day read them.

Whenever you feel your mood swinging to the negative, just get the blessings out and remind yourself of them with attention. You will be amazed.

Jettison all resentments and blame - Blame, complain and resentments are heavy and will weigh you down more than anything else. If you truly accept responsibility for your life, you spontaneously release all blame and resentments. It’s important for you to see that holding onto some hurt or hatred over what others may have done in the past makes you their slave in the present. Stay away from negative people and those who are chronic moaners and groaners.

Resign as the judge - Every judgement you make is extra weight you carry around inside your head. The easiest and most unconscious thing to do is to walk around judging every moment, event and person who comes into your life experience. The more you judge others, yourself and the world, the heavier you become. And chances are that who you judge doesn’t really care about your judgement, and probably don't even know about it.

So adopt the principle, 'Live and let live'. Make yourself happy and free and let others worry about their happiness.

Take a chill pill - The heart feels heavy when every thought and emotion is taken seriously, as a permanent reality. Moods are like water and it's their nature to flow. The word 'emotion' is defined spiritually as 'energy in motion'. Being in motion it will naturally move, and change. So accept this and do not give permanence to something so temporary. Remember that your true nature is neither thought nor emotion, rather a pure, free and light spirit. Look at every moment of life through its eyes.

De-cluttering your outer life

Take a good look at your external environment- what do you feel about your living area, kitchen, bedroom, office, desk area? Ladies try this challenge- tip out your handbag and see what comes out! Is everything you see what you really need? When was the last time you used it?

Your external environment is a reflection of your inner environment!

If you live a life where you are constantly looking for things, not remembering where you filed documents, not having the things with you when you need them - then this all leads to frustration and clogged mind-space. So not only is your external life cluttered, but the result of this is that your precious mind space is also cluttered trying to fathom it all out.

So do yourself a favor and de-clutter your immediate external environment! And before you start to beat yourself up at the enormity of the task, first count your blessings!
You are privileged to be able to have afforded to buy all this clutter- now you just need to develop the skill of letting go.

Here are -- simple tips on how to get started

First decide which room will be the top priority. No point tackling the whole house at once. We all know the saying "you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time"

Take a long hard look at what you see in the room. Which areas are stagnant and full of clutter? Take a good look at the corners and what's stuffed into closets / drawers Prioritize these first.

Set up a system of plastic boxes- label them a) To throw away (anything broken/irreparable/out of date) b) Charity /Give aways / for sale c) For repair (be ruthless here! Only repair if you will use it again) d) Not in this room (things that belong elsewhere) Then begin - put on your favorite music, open the windows and have fun becoming lighter and free-er.

Group similar items together but before you do this take a look at your items and decide what memories they hold. Do not hold onto things that you feel you ought to but don’t truly like. (e.g. that garish vase that Aunty gave you 10 years ago and you have never liked - now gets donated to charity) Only keep things around you that have positive messages.

Anything you have not used / seen in the past year - gets given away.
Unused things hold stagnant energy and also remind you of things you wanted to do, but never did. If you have a store room of things that never see the light of day until you move house (only to be stored again) then you need to question why you hold on so much.

In Feng Shui terms, energy (Chi) needs to circulate freely around your home - so the main entrance is vital as this is where energy enters your home.
Remove ALL clutter from inside and outside the main door and hallway.
Invest in neat shoe cabinets to hide all those thrown off shoes, remove any dead/dying plants, and invest in bright welcoming lighting.

Wardrobes and clothes need to be cleared at least annually .Categorize the clothes according to use- long dress, tops, bottoms etc. Also color co-ordinate as you hang them. Anything which does not fit you - give away. There are a lot of negative messages each time you look into the closet if you face clothes which are now too tight. Also it's harder to lose weight if you have negative reminders around. So decide to give away and then treat yourself to a new outfit once you have lost the weight!

Tip out your handbag/briefcase….what do you see?
Wallets/purses should be free of clutter; else your money becomes stagnant!
Do you have things in there that are useful (tissues , small note pad, pen , name cards etc..) or is it full of old receipts, parking coupons, half eaten chocolate bars and anything but what you need when you sneeze and rummage to find a tissue!

Piles of paper on desks literally weigh you down and also do not allow a clear space for creativity and progress in your career. Too many personal items on the desk detract from the work focus and also create stagnation. Clear the clutter also on your computer - trash unwanted E-mails, out of date files, and establish clear filing and retrieval systems.

Celebrate as clearing clutter is the best antidepressant there is!
Removing stagnant energy allows a new lightness into your life and along with that comes new opportunities! Your mind is calmer as you know where things are, precious mind space is freed and thus new ideas come in, which you capture by writing them on the notepad that is neatly placed in your handbag/briefcase.