Foolishness and Mayhem – How to Clear the Clutter and Get Your Life Back
Many people live in an environment stuffed with clutter. Too much clutter is an outward sign that something on the inside needs work. Clutter will make you depressed, angry, stressed, and stuck. If you are living with clutter, you must let go of the stuff and reclaim your space and your life.
It isn’t hard to figure out how much clutter is costing you. Just do the math. Say you have an $800.00 a month rent or house payment. If you live in a 2,000-square-foot home and just 5% is taken up by clutter, that clutter is costing you $40.00 a month in living space. Times that by 12 months and you are now spending $480.00 a year on clutter.
Clutter also costs in other ways besides financial. On one of my favorite television shows, Clean House, people complain that the clutter creates chaos, stress, and feuding between family members. Couples often complain that the clutter affects their relationship including their sex life. Niece Nash, the star of the show, says, “Clutter is just a lot of foolishness and mayhem.”
Some of the people on the show have said that clutter kept them stuck in a rut. A few families that have been revisited after the Clean House crew decluttered their homes reported increased health, improved self-esteem, and even weight loss.
There isn’t anything wrong with having stuff that you love. The problem is when you have so much stuff that you are crowding yourself out of your own home. My rule for stuff in my home is that I have to love it. If I do not love it, it cannot live in my home. I regularly go through my home and take inventory.
I ask myself, “Do I still love this?” If the answer is no, it goes on my giveaway shelf. At the end of the month, if none of my friends or neighbors have given it a new home, I take it to Goodwill Industries where I know it will find a new loving place to live.
If you can’t bear to throw your stuff away, or if it is just too good to toss, have a garage sale or even a swap meet with friends and neighbors. If you don’t want to take the time or energy to do that, donate it to your favorite charity. You get a tax write off and someone gets something new to them that they can love and take care of.
Clutter is an outward expression of what is going on inside. Holding on to stuff is a sign that something much bigger is going on. Clutter is a sign that you are avoiding something, that you fear something, or that you are holding on to someone. Get the support of friends, family, or a professional so that you can clean up the clutter and move beyond the piles of stuff. In the long run, you will be so happy you did.
