Changing your life has a lot in common with decluttering.
(BOOOM!, I know)
Decluttering, it doesn't matter of which kind of decluttering we are talking about, sucks. At first.
(BOOOM!, I know)
Decluttering, it doesn't matter of which kind of decluttering we are talking about, sucks. At first.
It feels stressful and terrible and messy and all over the place, until... until it feels great and right and rewarding and meaningful.
If you can keep going and slowly but surely make a daily practice and a way of life out of it, that's it - while decluttering your physical space one day at the time as a part of your daily routine, you are actually not going to need any decluttering ever again.
[Where are your life choices leading you?
Close to a safe and quiet place without clutter, or...?
Image credit: ISO Republic]
With your clutter, the problem is never the clutter.
The real problem is why you think that you need it in the first place and which habits bring you to create more clutter on a regular basis, instead of slowly but surely getting rid of it, one day at the time, without creating new clutter in the process.
Every yes is a no, and every no is a yes.
The real problem is why you think that you need it in the first place and which habits bring you to create more clutter on a regular basis, instead of slowly but surely getting rid of it, one day at the time, without creating new clutter in the process.
Every yes is a no, and every no is a yes.
Laura Vanderkam
Physical space is, per definition, limited. It doesn't matter what fancy IKEA advertising says... You can have just that many items around you. For every item you choose, something else can't make it or has to go.
For every new item, for every new purchase, it is all about asking yourself whether you are actually going to need it, use it, make the best of it. If not, you don't need to buy that thing. Rinse, and repeat. Again and again. For every new item. Every single day.
Over time, fewer items are going to make it to your home, and fewer of them are going to be in your physical space.
With changing your life, the problem is never the past.
[When IKEA is not enough, let's all go for...
a purple & black pentagram shelf, of course.
(just kidding)]
For every new item, for every new purchase, it is all about asking yourself whether you are actually going to need it, use it, make the best of it. If not, you don't need to buy that thing. Rinse, and repeat. Again and again. For every new item. Every single day.
Over time, fewer items are going to make it to your home, and fewer of them are going to be in your physical space.
With changing your life, the problem is never the past.
The real problem is how you are going to react because of the past. Or because of what you think to be true about the past. Or because of what you think about you to be true, because of the past and how you see it. Or a good mix of all of this.
In a word: baggage. You see your past, your previous choices, even yourself as baggage.
You don't have baggage, as long as you don't see it as such.
As Jay Shetty says, "You can't be what you don't see". How are you looking at your past, your choices, yourself? Are you seeing baggage, or something beautiful and valuable instead?
How do you talk about your past? As if it would be a problem, an obstacle, an issue?
Other people could call it life experience, unique memories, challenges you mastered (because hey!, you are still here and thriving), the exciting poker hand you've got to deal with, the long way you have been going in order to go to places, do things, become who you are today.
What have you learned? What are you still learning?
We teach what we need to learn.
Thanks to your past, what can you teach, both yourself and others?
In a word: baggage. You see your past, your previous choices, even yourself as baggage.
Now, consider each option based on the future, not the past. Ignoring the sunk costs, ignoring what you deserve, which of these options offers you the happiest series of future days, weeks and months? Choose that one. Don’t look back. Go.
Seth Godin, Difficult decisions
You don't have baggage, as long as you don't see it as such.
As Jay Shetty says, "You can't be what you don't see". How are you looking at your past, your choices, yourself? Are you seeing baggage, or something beautiful and valuable instead?
[As far as I am concerned, this is the only type of baggage
we should be talking about. And one of these should be enough
for any kind of trip. #minimalbaggage]
How do you talk about your past? As if it would be a problem, an obstacle, an issue?
Other people could call it life experience, unique memories, challenges you mastered (because hey!, you are still here and thriving), the exciting poker hand you've got to deal with, the long way you have been going in order to go to places, do things, become who you are today.
What have you learned? What are you still learning?
We teach what we need to learn.
Stacy London
Thanks to your past, what can you teach, both yourself and others?
Tags: Relationships, Letting go, Emotional baggage, Love, Quotes, Self-acceptance
What to read next:
Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!
