As I am pondering on the best way to present this blog the images that are cluttering my mind tell a story of cupboards, wardrobes and drawers bursting with unnecessary ‘must keep for later’ items…. In fact they are so full it is impossible to identify what one may actually find in there. Unless we were all regular de-cluttering queens I would say most of us have somewhere in the house we put all of our unwanted goods to keep the home functioning in some order. The kitchen cupboard rarely if ever organised is stacked with plastic containers of all shapes and sizes. I don’t know about your kitchen cupboard but the ones in this house are quite old with doors that don’t shut tightly. Usually I just throw the empty containers in and hope it doesn’t turn into a game of mini ping pong.
Clutter, clutter and more clutter! It all has to go somewhere until we are willing to part ways. How about the collection of random items that we may find in our drawers? There is one particular drawer that I like to use for those items that have nowhere else to go. It is a drawer that ‘saves’ me by providing a place I can very quickly throw things in before visitors arrive.
Let me tell you a funny story! About two years ago our family went away for approx. 2 weeks. While we were gone the house had been broken into. All the signs indicated to us that it had occurred on the very day we returned home which was very fortunate. We did what one usually does and called the police. The police took down all the details and dusted for finger prints. They asked if we had noticed any items missing. One of my boys noticed his PS3 had vanished along with some random games. Another of my boys noticed he was missing a few smaller items from his bedroom. Overall we could not tell if anything too valuable had been taken. The police made mention of some bags filled with items that had been picked up and taken to the station that same afternoon. They had suspicions that some of the items from our house were in those bags.
To our surprise the bags did in fact belong to us. My son got his PS3 console returned with the games while the other son didn’t seem to get back what he thought was missing. Now going back to the topic of clutter, you would be amused to know that the thieves took some of our clutter!!!! Yes not joking… We and the police were amused and fascinated that thieves had taken old masking tape along with a broken belt belonging to one of the boys. The belt was completely unusable yet they took it?
In our mind it has never made sense why thieves having gone to so much trouble to enter a house would take with them some clutter. We will never know?
Let me present you with a few thoughts: Firstly have you noticed that any overcrowded cupboard or drawer filled with clutter becomes a permanent solution to store more clutter. Secondly, these clutter filled cupboards or drawers are so full that to even remember what is in them is impossible? You would need to be in a spring cleaning mood just to find out. Thirdly, anything valuable is not stored in those messy spaces. Generally people know that putting their expensive dress inside a cluttered wardrobe is not a good idea. There would be no room to hang anything properly and you are pretty much guaranteed anything valuable could get ruined. Oh and not to mention the silverfish and bugs having a party in those dark and crowded spaces.
You might be guessing by now where I am heading with this topic. Many of my blogs are centred on the idea of our heart condition. The reason being is that it is often the most neglected area of our lives along with those cupboards and wardrobes of course!
Seriously though we often ignore what is going on inside of us. Perhaps we are too busy to take time out for ourselves. After all as long as life continues to function despite our emotional baggage or pain, we convince ourselves it doesn’t really matter.
Maybe it doesn’t really matter but only for a while though…
Picture this scene: A person walks over to grab something out of their extremely overly filled wardrobe and as they open the door everything just falls out! It is often one of those typical amusing scenes in a movie or tv show that everyone laughs at.
Okay so now that you have that thought in mind take a moment and imagine how a person responds when their heart is too full of hurt for instance. All it takes is someone to come along and open that door and Ouch!
This is what used to happen with me. Something or someone would trigger that spot and all the hurt would come pouring out!
When our hearts are cluttered with useless items we have no room for anything new. We may have held onto items for so long that we are too comfortable to keep things the way they are, why change?
Have you noticed that most of the things we hold in our cupboards or wardrobes become outdated eventually! They turn into old fashioned items. They are just taking up valuable space. The same can be said of what we may keep in our hearts that should of been removed along time ago. Like perhaps a 20 yr old grudge against someone. Holding a grudge against someone for such a long time only damages your own heart and its environment. You may even reason to yourself why this grudge should stay there. “They hurt me so bad I will never let it go”. It isn’t affecting ‘them’ its affecting YOU or better yet INFECTING you. Infections can be dangerous they need sterilising and removal or it can spread and cause so much damage.
Life is often unpredictable we never really know what will happen from one day to the next. If our hearts are too full of useless baggage or still accommodating old hurts we struggle to have clarity for the future. Our perception of people and situations can be misplaced causing more problems as we view everything through the lens of our pain and hurt.
It may feel daunting and impossible to face those areas in your heart that need attention and you may need to ask someone for help. The relief of clearing those areas out will provide you with peace and space to receive healthier thoughts, or healthier friendships that have been waiting for a welcome.
From my own experience the relief and freedom that I have felt after getting rid of excess baggage fuels me to keep writing these blogs!
The Change that changes you 