DO IT NOW. TELL THEM NOW.
I’ve just completed an entire month of cleaning and uncluttering my home. It sure feels great walking into a clean orderly space each time when I walk in the door. It was a lot of hard work getting to here from there. The cleaning was the easiest part. Uncluttering for me was the most difficult. I had accumulated way too much ‘stuff’. ‘Stuff’ was piled on every table, crammed onto every shelf, and even pushed under the bed and the sofa.
I had to be willing to let go. Most of the ‘stuff’ I had been hanging onto for years was only because it was mine. Now that it’s gone I couldn’t tell you specifically was it was. But I managed to let go of the equivalent of 12 huge garden leaf bags of ‘stuff’. Some went into the trash. Some went to GOOD WILL. Some went to friends and family.
The most difficult thing for me now is to break the bad habits that allowed me to create the big mess. I notice that I frequently want to put things off until later. When I get out of bed, NOW, I force myself to make the bed now. (If I put it off until later. . . it never gets made.) When I finish a meal I just want to put the dirty dishes in the sink for now. But I’ve been making myself rinse the dishes and silverware, and put them into the dishwasher. These small steps are very important. The more I stay on top of things, the better things look, and the better I feel about my ability to maintain the process.
One of my life mentors was Bill McGrane. Bill was a teacher and founded The Self-Esteem Institute, in Cincinnati, Ohio. I took part in some of his workshops back in the late 1980′s while reinventing myself. One of the most profound assignments that Bill required of me was to sincerely acknowledge someone every day. The basis for the assignment stemmed from the fact that so many people are driven by their egos. They rarely pause to say thank you, give others praise, or tell those dearest that “I love you”. Time passes so swiftly and too often people live with regrets for never having said something to a dear one who has passed. I learned that lesson well.
If your life is cluttered, unburden yourself now. Take your personal inventory of things you want and need to say to the special people in your life. Acknowledge someone in your circle today and every day. It will provide you with an even higher high than walking into a clean home. (Mom, if you’re reading this. . . . I love you!)