Aw, the final week of 2016; a fresh New Year on the way.
I still feel the magic of Christmas in the air; the spirit of the season lingers, as once again I contemplate what to keep and what to toss in the New Year.
Fresh New Socks
Last holiday season, I read Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.” It arrived when it was meant to arrive. I was ready.
Simply, Marie Kondo believes that we should surround ourselves with what we love and what brings us joy, or in her words, “sparks joy.”
Her method, known as KonMari, inspires us to keep what “sparks joy” and toss the rest. It’s a simple method, yet not an easy one.
Curious, yet tentative, about the KonMari method, I safely started with my socks, which is not the order that Marie prescribes.
I spent over an hour holding, sorting, folding, and lining my drawers with my select joyful socks. It took over an hour!
My beliefs about abundance, money, worth, self-doubt, and permission bubbled up…more like overflowed.
All because of socks!
I had moments when I wanted to toss the little book in the trash along with my worn out socks.
Why had I kept and worn such tattered rags?
Once I felt content with my socks and more confident with me, I went back to the beginning and worked Marie’s method as she intends.
Marie insists that we try-on, touch, hold each item of clothing, and ask, “Does this bring me joy?”
I did this with each item of clothing as I made my way through my wardrobe.
Once I made the confident choice, “Yes” or “No,” to keep or toss the item, I noticed my fretful mind ease.
Marie invites us to “thank” the items for what they provide, whether we keep or toss them.
Even though I chose to store some necessities in my drawers that don’t necessarily bring me joy, such as thermal underwear and snow pants; I thanked them for protecting my body.
Once I got over myself, the process actually inspired joy.
Fresh New Stories
Marie’s KonMari method can inspire the decluttering of our inside spaces also; meaning, what we store on the inside should ultimately bring us joy also.
Yet, we carry a lot of inside clutter that most likely doesn’t bring us joy, or serve a functional purpose.
You know, the inside clutter of self-judgment, unworthiness, guilt, and shame; the negative, self-deprecating thoughts and beliefs that fill our minds.
Why do we hang on to old, worn-out thoughts, ragged and tattered beliefs, and ancient stories that don’t bring us joy?
I think we hold on to our inside clutter for the same reasons we hold on to our outside clutter.
We believe…
…we owe it to them.
…they gave it to us.
…we deserve it.
…it defines us.
…we’re nothing without it.
…we’re unworthy of anything better.
We think we have to keep those old tattered, ragged thoughts and stories because someone said so, someone gave them to us, or we paid for them.
Much of the inside clutter we carry we could toss, just as I tossed my old, ratty socks.
Chances are those old thoughts and stories have outlived their usefulness or purpose…which was all simply another story…
Fresh New Me
I’ve been decluttering inside for years.
I started several years ago when my body got my attention, finally.
I was living with chronic pain, gasping for air, and struggling to get out of bed in the morning; my body ached, my spirit was flat, and my mind overflowed with anxious, distracted clutter.
Calling on courage, I risked alternative approaches to health and wellness like acupuncture, massage, and even joined a yoga studio where, one pose as a time, I sorted through my mental, emotional, and physical clutter.
I started meditating and reading every spiritual book I could get my hands on, and hired a coach.
Years later, I’m crystal clear about how attachment, worth, and fear influenced what I held on to, and why I resisted tossing it; I now know what brings me joy and what doesn’t.
The process of decluttering is hard, emotional work, yet it inspires sublime possibilities, and “sparks joy!”
This last week of December, I’m not only rolling into a fresh new year, I’m preparing to board a plane to Malaysia, along with 19 amazingly awesome graduate students, who totally bring me joy.
We’re embarking on a 2-week travel abroad experience…and once again, packing invites me to revisit my “enough” fears as I ponder what to pack, what to leave behind, and ask, “Do I have what I need? Am I enough?”
Because I now travel with fresh new socks and a fresh new story, I absolutely have what I need and I’m totally enough.
Fresh New You
You are too!
As your fresh New Year approaches, I invite you to sort through your inside and outside clutter and ask yourself, “Does this bring me joy?” “Does this story serve me well?”
If so, by all means, thank it, keep it, and treasure it.
If not, thank it, and courageously toss it and let it go!
Begin the practice of making space for items and stories that bring you joy, and inspire sublime possibilities…because you were born worthy and you’re absolutely, totally enough.
Here’s a simple question, yet not an easy one to answer: “If you could declutter your heart, mind, and spaces of all the stuff and stories that don’t bring you joy, what might be possible for you, your relationships, your life, and the fresh New Year?”
Sending you inspiration,
P.S. Ready to declutter your mind and body of anxious, distracted thoughts and make 2017 an epic year in your business and in your life? Click here and schedule a free call with me today! Your mind, body, and business will thank you.
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