After I turned 40 a sort of desire for wearing ‘bling’ began growing. What is bling you might ask? Anything that sparkles such as shoes, necklaces, earrings or bracelets and not limited to only clothing this fascination for bling covers cushions and household items. I find sparkly things pretty. I have also begun blinging up the garden with coloured lights and pretty statues which are solar powered and turn on as it gets dark.
As I was thinking about the idea of ‘bling’, it sort of dawned on me how pretty things over time can begin looking worn out. I don’t own much silver wear yet I do know that even silver wear needs polishing on a regular basis to keep it looking shiny. Our cars need a good clean too! It doesn’t matter whether you have a brand new car it will need cleaning and polishing after some time of use otherwise the colour becomes very dull and the overall appearance is not so appealing, cars get dirty on use.
Everyone knows that housework never runs out, it always keeps coming back. In our home we have a family of six so there is always plenty of cleaning to be done. I would not be able to comprehend what the house would look like if I decided to not clean it for a week. Everything imaginable would start growing in the kitchen and moving in. Hygiene would be at its lowest and perhaps every member of this family would slowly stop coming home as the environment would become more and more uncomfortable. I personally would go crazy being in this house if it got out of control as I like organisation and living in a clean environment.
The point is that everything gets dirty over time and needs a clean. The more the item is used the more often it needs cleaning.
No doubt everything that I have mentioned so far makes sense, right?
It can be easy to ignore what’s going on inside as the people around us see the outside. We can look the part on the outside quite easily. We can smile so others think we are happy, we can put on our happy faces to hide the pain that may be going on in our heart. I mean who likes to see someone down and out? We may try so hard to hold it all together so that others don’t know that there is something wrong. I can understand why people do that as it is not easy finding someone to talk to these days and we usually can’t guarantee a favourable response. I know from my own experience how many times I felt frustrated at the need to just talk without feeling judged. The truth is whenever I have had the privilege of hearing about another person’s struggle it has given me some sort of assurance that I was not the only one going through troubles. Troubles are not limited to socio economic status or titles, whether you are rich or poor, a male or female.
My own experiences have taught me that if someone feels comfortable about opening up to me then I am going to listen. Often time’s people don’t need all the answers they just need to know that someone genuinely cares about what is going on and cares about them as a person.
When we can find someone to share with it helps the healing process. It may be so deep and painful that it requires a professional and that’s ok too.
Everyone in life is going to experience challenges and difficulties which in turn can affect our hearts and attitudes. This means we all need a bit of polishing from time to time. Life can get overwhelming as it is, so when our hearts get too full of unnecessary items then we need to get rid of them otherwise we become overwhelmed with more than we can handle. This will then begin showing up in our relationships and interactions with other people. While we may try hard to smile so that others don’t see our pain it is so much easier to pull off a genuine smile when we off load some things that are weighing us down.
Just this week I had to take one of my boys to the hospital and we were there for five hours and during this time I was watching how clean everything had to be. A cleaner just kept cleaning the whole time we were there. A hospital would need to keep everything extremely clean to prevent the spread of germs and bacteria. Especially in an operating room the hygiene and cleanliness has to be at the highest standard for the sake of the patients and the staff.
When we allow hurts to sit too long they can become toxic and dangerous. We may start lashing out at those closest to us or start doing things we would not normally do as a means of escaping the pain we are feeling.
If the house (heart) is overdue for a massive clean you may have to start in one place first. When you begin and slowly work your way around all of the mess the organisation begins to come back and you can see more clearly. Your perspective improves and becomes more whole and healthy. You may even find that some reorganisation is needed to improve things further!
Reorganisation can involve taking a good look at what you are spending your time on and perhaps letting go of something that is not really beneficial. Perhaps it is a distraction or a means of escape whatever it is, letting go can bring more clarity and focus to where you should be headed.
Sorting things out internally can give you a natural ‘bling’, your smile will shine again, your eyes get their sparkle back and in general your life is at peace inviting joy to come back. The natural ‘bling’ doesn’t cost anything except some time and courage to take a look at sorting things out.
Beauty is so much more than looking good on the outside it is about shining from the inside out.
♥
The Change that changes you 