Have you ever been engulfed by a feeling of powerlessness? A feeling of having no control over what is happening in the world, or maybe even, in your own life? Do you look around your home and feel overwhelmed by clutter? Where do you begin to trudge through your life, one piece at a time, to make space for abundance and peace? As many of us feel a longing to regain control in our lives, we can do little things to feel more in control of our space. For most of us in the developed countries, we live in excess. But do we live in abundance? Taking the time to declutter may allow us to take a look at what is important to us. Have we been too indulgent in our lives?
Do we shop too much and fill our homes with stuff and not with the love, friendship and ease that we need? Do we find cleaning is overwhelming, and purging is almost paralyzing?
In order to find control and peace in our higher selves, we must start in our personal space. Where is it obvious that you need to let go of some material things? When you find time, even if it is just a short amount of time, choose one small area of your home. Think about what you NEED in this space. I would not suggest beginning in a large closet. It can be too much to get started. For me, I pull everything out of the space. I like to see what the emptiness looks like in the area. Then touch everything and notice if you have touched it in the past year? Is the item seasonal? Can it be stored until you need it? Is it dusty? Is it useful? Does it have sentimental value that cannot be replaced? Ask yourself these questions to decide if this object needs to be in your home and taking up space. If the answer is no, get rid of it. Clean this one space then take the unwanted objects to the trash or to a donation site. Do not wait until you have cleaned out your entire home to start removing bags or boxes from your garage. This will, again, create a sense of being overwhelmed and make you feel out of control.
Imagine how freely you can move in your world, by beginning to move freely in your home. Organization, cleanliness and no clutter will free you from the out-of-control status of your home. Practicing Non-Excess physically will help ease the burden that may engulf you in chaos. It is proven that people are more depressed and tend to be more easily overweight when their home is out of sorts, and not clean and orderly.
Start with the consumerism excess, and then you can begin removing the mental and emotional excess. Imagine also not being weighed down with all the “should haves” in your life. Honestly, our to-do lists, like laundry, never end. But carrying the weight of “should haves” is a heaviness that we can choose to let go. Imagine your history being just history, as if you shoved it into one of those black trash bags that you set out by the curb. Letting go of what cannot be reclaimed, redone, or redirected is also freeing and cleansing. Instead of carrying your pain, write it down, read it and maybe burn it, or cut it into small pieces. Then envision that those areas in your life, like a caged bird you are setting free back into the wild; are gone. When that cage is empty, you no longer have need for it.
Take control of everything that touches you personally daily. This is what you can do to better your surroundings, to create peace and control, and to take inventory of your heart, mind, spirit and soul. As always, what you think, you create. Think and do positive, intentional and creative things and see your world open up to freedoms, value, hope and love that you never knew existed. Then imagine, just imagine, a world where everyone has found such peace, clearing, lightness and hope. And they bring it out, into their daily lives, with renewed connections to self and others.
Imagine everyone realizing how connected we are, and that it is not stuff that brings us joy, but the people we encounter throughout our days that create abundance in our lives.
Carrie J. Myers
Carrie J. Myers writes mostly poetry reflecting life phases and the processes of her journey along the way. Through yoga practices, she found words that held higher meaning and growth. She hopes to inspire change in the souls of her readers so they discover their authentic selves and revive, create their light within.
- Carrie J. Myers
- Carrie J. Myers
