Thursday, August 13, 2009

Cleaning Up Your Life



This is a good season to get your house in order. Not just your physical house but your life. We have to get rid of the old way of thinking to make room for new visions and opportunities. We have to de-clutter our space, relationships, conversation, habits, and thoughts. If you are ready to move to the next level, if you want growth and increase, there are some things you need to clean up. Clean and therapeutically design your home, car, and office so they can become places where you can breathe, reflect, and imagine. You deserve a clean environment.

But it doesn’t stop with your physical space, clean out your thinking. Letting go of shame, guilt, anger, and fear will create space for confidence, self esteem, peace of mind, and courage. Cleaning the inside takes effort and commitment, just like cleaning the outside. We also know that cleaning the outside is a continuous process. We would never say, “Oh I cleaned the bath tub last month. It’s clean.” Transforming our way of thinking takes constant maintenance. Old habits are difficult but not impossible to change. When the old, negative way of thinking pops into your mind, interrupt it, challenge it, and give yourself a clean slate and a fresh start.

Not only do we need to clean our physical space and mental space, we also need to clean up our relationships. Often we are in cycles of dysfunction, where the people may change but the pattern remains the same. Take an honest look at your relationships including the type of people you are drawn to and the nature of the relationships. Whatever is not edifying is destructive. It is better to have a few quality relationships than to be surrounded by people who bring negativity and drama into your life. Clean it up.

We also have to clean up our relationship with our bodies. When depression begins to weigh on us, it is often reflected in our neglect of ourselves. Whether it is your hygiene or the need to make the doctor’s appointment you have been putting off, make your physical health a priority in this cleansing season. Clean up habits of over-eating, lack of exercise, and living off of vending machines and fast food. Clean up addictions to caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs. When we are committed to cleaning up our lives, we are willing to seek and receive help. Some cleaning jobs are too large to try to handle alone but you can do it by reaching out for help.

Finally it is time to clean up our finances. We can not afford to continue living off of credit. We can not continue to think not opening bills will make them disappear. We can not continue to live without a plan for our future. Clean it up. Determine how much you owe and create a plan to pay it. Create a budget for clarity and peace of mind. Create and act on a plan that will increase your streams of income.

Clutter promotes stress in every area of our lives. Stress takes energy away from our goals and purpose. De-clutter and cleanse your internal and external world. You deserve a healthier, happier life and the change begins with you.

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