Guest post by Becky Blanton:
It’s a VERY intense and personal experience. It’s not just “getting rid of stuff,” it’s readjusting – a hard reset – of your life, values, lifestyle, and belief system. It doesn’t come easy to most of us (ANY of us?) so that’s why people don’t finish. It’s emotionally painful at times. It reminds us of dreams we’ll never see come to fruition, friendships, relationships, lifestyles, friendships and work that will never be more than hopes, not reality.
Clutter does NOT serve us. It demeans us. It cheapens us. It negatively impacts our lifestyle. I’m reminded of the story about how hunters trap and enslave monkeys. They put a banana in a jar and leave it out. The monkey will reach into the jar, grab the banana, then not let go when the hunters approach. It’s willing to hold onto the banana and give up its freedom. We hold onto STUFF the same way a monkey hangs onto that banana. The world is full of banana trees and fresh fruit. Let the piece in the jar (storage unit, closet, garage, attic, crawl space) go and then go in search of the really good, abundant fruit that’s waiting for you.
Clutter does NOT serve us. It demeans us. It cheapens us. It negatively impacts our lifestyle.
Decluttering is about reorganizing our priorities and values. You can’t hang on to worthless stuff you never use in hopes that “someday” you MIGHT need it.
I don’t know that I would have undertaken this process/challenge if I HAD known all this, but I can’t say it would have deterred me either.
When you are clutter-free you are also free to do other things with your life – like explore, travel, pursue a new job or interest. Life opens up when we get rid of the things blocking our way. I’m soooo CLOSE to being done, but so happy with exactly where I am right now. I’ve been getting rid of flaky friends, people whose “friendships” don’t serve me, and clients who are a waste of my time, money, energy and resources. It’s a different way of looking at my life for sure.
I’ve learned who my real friends are, and who only wants me for my time, experience, money, help and not because they want a relationship. For those who couldn’t be here for me when I needed them, don’t expect me to be there for you when the time comes either.
