Evaluate Your Purchases

The clutter in your life is a direct result of YOU allowing it into your house. You are responsible for your living environment, no matter if you own your home, rent an apartment, or share a dorm room with a classmate.

You are also responsible for taking credit for the good buys you have made. You and I have many objects in our homes that are NOT clutter to us. They are good purchases--things we are glad we spent money on.

For inspiration, here is a short list of some of my good purchases:

computer
cell phone
Shabby Chic comforter
high-quality cross-training shoes (make me sound so athletic don't they?)
portable DVD player for my kids to take on car trips
favorite blue jeans
slow cooker

I happen to know three people for whom my list of good purchases would be total clutter. But their lists may be clutter to someone else.

Take a few minutes and list ten of your good purchases, and why you consider them good. Congratulate yourself on buying those things. See? Not everything around you is junk!

ENOUGH

No one likes being told what to do. We stand up for our rights to independent thoughts, beliefs, and actions: "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We are quick to exert ourselves when someone interferes with these rights. We refuse to bow to any other human who tries to usurp our blood-bought rights to all our personal and national freedoms.

However, there are two situations in which we voluntarily surrender our rights:

1. We voluntarily allow THINGS to get in the way of our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

2. We don't set limits on our own desires, our acquiring habits, or our keeping habits.

We CHOOSE what we allow into our homes: no one is holding you at gunpoint to keep the unused espresso machine or two closets full of clothing. No one is forcing you to keep your garage in a constant state of chaos. No one guides your hands in the discount store as you pile stuff and more stuff into your cart, then bring all that junk home. No one forces you to sign the 90 days same as cash contract for the bedroom furniture you bought but didn't really need (your old set worked and looked just fine).

Don Aslett, the Grandfather of the dejunking movement, said in his book, Not For Packrats Only, "By the time we emerge from the innocence of childhood, we firmly believe that things make us happy*." He continues to explain how we believe that, "things will even somehow change something inside of us," making us better, more beautiful, stronger, smarter, healthier. We want others to approve of us, to look up to us, to want to BE us. We want to be "cool."

THINGS DO NOT MAKE US HAPPY. Things are enhancements and supports for living out the life Christ died to give you! Who you are, and especially your happiness, will never depend upon anything you can purchase.

Which brings us to the second point: we don't (or haven't) set limits on ourselves.

If we wish to live a genuine life, vital, dynamic, always learning, always seeking growth, pursuing happiness as we define it for ourselves, then we must set limits on our desires and our habits as they relate to stuff. We can not allow what we own to define our sense of SELF, or our WORTH in this world.

Who we are has nothing to do with stuff. It never has, and it never will. Only when you GET IT--that who you are is never defined by material possessions--will you permanently free yourself from the bondage of thinking your happiness depends upon having, or acquiring, or keeping some material object.

You are enough, just as you are. You don't need any THING to determine your value. You are priceless.

You have been limiting your growth and happiness by trying to buy and acquire your way into feeling happy and worthwhile. Instead of limiting your growth and happiness, set limits on how much you want to buy, how much you do buy, and how much you keep. Get comfortable with "enough" instead of "more! more! more!"

"Enough" is a huge step towards true personal freedom and contentment.



* Aslett, Don. Not For Packrats Only. Plume Books. New York, NY: 1991. Pg.8.

CALM

Calm is the opposite of chaos.

Which way do you want to live?

Which way are you currently living?

You don't have to live with stuff everywhere. You don't have to live with mess and disorder and an endless tidal wave of things spilling out from every closet, drawer, cupboard, and tabletop.

You can create a calm atmosphere, a sense of serenity, peace, beauty.

"HOW?!" you ask. "I work full-time. My house is a mess. I have too many commitments. I can't keep up with it all!"

You are absolutely right: you can't keep up with it all. Humans were not made to withstand constant stress. You know instinctively that clutter causes stress. So today, you are going to GET RID OF SOME STRESS.

Three is an easy number to remember, so search for and THROW AWAY three of the following items. (You can copy and paste this list into a Word document and use it as a checklist for yourself. Then THROW AWAY THE LIST WHEN YOU'RE DONE. You don't need more paper clutter.) Go get a big trash bag.

Start in the bathroom. Throw away:

• three bottles of things you never use anymore
• three expired cosmetics
• three ratty washcloths

Now to your bedroom. Throw away:

• three pairs of ratty underwear
• three pairs of worn socks
• three T-shirts you haven't worn in over a year
• three pairs of shoes that look grimy (think worn out flip flops, tired running shoes, sandals you've had since junior high)

To the kitchen. Throw away:

• three stupid refrigerator magnets you thought were cool at the time
• three expired boxes or cans of food (you have some, so LOOK!)
• three chipped plates or cups
• three phone books or catalogs (you know you have some on the counter or stashed in a drawer somewhere)
• three disgusting rags or sponges underneath the sink
  

To the living room. Throw away:

• three magazines
  
• three catalogs
• three pet or kid toys that never get played with anymore
• three dead or dying plants or flower arrangements

To a closet (pick one). Throw away:

• three gift bags you'll never re-use
• three empty boxes you're saving to use to send Christmas presents
• three stupid things (you have more, but limit it to three)
  

Now tie up that trash bag, and take it out of your home.

Don't you feel better already?

"OK, I do, but now I have momentum and I want to do more."

Great! So now that you have a burst of energy, put it to good use and CLEAR OFF AS MANY FLAT SURFACES AS POSSIBLE. Long stretches of uncluttered flat surfaces create a sense of calm, even if the floor needs mopping or the frig needs cleaning out. That's my biggest housekeeping secret.

• So go make your bed quickly. Don't make hospital corners, just make it up so it looks nice.
  

• Wipe down and put away the toaster, blender, coffee pot, and KitchenAid that are sitting on your counters.

• Clear off the coffee table and put three things back on it.

Now relax and experience a little CALM in your mind and spirit today!