Have you ever heard the statement that the stuff we own is a reflection of who we are? While that may sound a bit odd, when we think about it a bit, we will see how true it is.
The books we read, photographs we display, music we listen to, DVDs we watch are all clues to what is important to us. Otherwise, why have them around? As I’m writing this, I’m taking mental inventory of the clues I leave around my home and what they’re telling my friends about me that words don’t.
But we are not all this stuff or any of our other belongings either. We are much more than that. The danger is when we allow it to take over our lives.
In order to make room for happiness, it’s necessary to purge the unnecessary — take an inventory of our lives and what’s really important. Ask what messages our things are giving about us?
Is there clutter in our home? Are we embarassed to have anyone in because of it? Is it causing other negative feelings?
We could ask if we’re keeping all this to feel complete or to fill an empty place in our hearts. Is it a safeguard against something that we fear? These are all emotions that can be controlled. Emotional pain is clutter too.
Let’s choose happiness and wholeness, and not allow clutter to control us. Let’s deal with the emotional demons of that clutter and let it and them go. We can have fulfilling lives without identifying with the stuff around us.
Along the way to our new lives, we may just discover peacefulness and calmness as the clutter leaves. Let’s do it!
