Clear Out and Clean Up for a Happier Life

Many of us today have too many things in our homes, too many people to stay in touch with, and too many thoughts racing through our minds. This is the age of just TOO much. But if we could look at the word “TOO” and remove 1/3 of this word and add the words “path” and “happiness” we can change our lives with this new mantra: “Path TO Happiness.” This is a path that we can walk along as we clear the clutter in our lives and find the simple peace that comes with cleaned up homes, clear relationships and quiet minds.

One teaches what one needs to learn and boy do I need to learn to clear the clutter!

The Clutter: I began to clear the clutter in the house I have been living in for almost 30 years. The first time I went though the house, I got rid of boxes and boxes of things and it is now time to go through the house again, and get rid of another 30 percent of what is here. One of the things that helps me get rid of things, is to realize that something I am not using, someone else may need. Taking bags of clothing to Goodwill is a great choice for me. I am sure you all have different places to take things you are not using.

The People: Clearing relationships is a tough one. Most of the relationships in my life feel pretty clear these days, although there are a few people in my life with whom I would like to experience more healing. About five years ago I made a list of the relationships in my life that in my opinion, needed improvement. In most cases progress has been made, but there are some people in my life who do not feel the same way about me as I feel about them, and are not interested in having a better relationship with me. When this happens, acceptance is needed on my part.

In some relationships, I need to set boundaries as I am not able to spend the time and energy in the relationship that is being asked of me. I have to hope that those people can accept that I am not able to respond as they would like.

The Mind: Clearing the clutter in the mind is extremely challenging. For me, quiet music, walks outside and meditation help a lot. Watching stimulating and violent televisions shows put my mind in a state where sleep becomes impossible. Each individual has to experiment and find out what helps to create a quiet mind.

Avoiding the news is NOT on my list. Our world has many problems and sitting on top of the mountain meditating is not going to solve all our problems of war, poverty and pollution. Meditation is helpful personally and in my opinion also helpful to the world consciousness, but meditation must be followed with actions that are helpful to the world. And staying in touch with what is going on by reading or listening to the news is important.

I know I worry less when I can actually DO something about a problem. So one of the fastest ways to clear my mind when I am worrying about a personal or world problem, is to commit to an action that I will take that can help solve that problem.

As we remove 1/3 of the word “Too” and it becomes “To” perhaps this can remind us to remove 1/3 of the clutter in our lives and follow the Path To Happiness.