Confession: I'm disorganized. I know this. I also hate this about myself. Every single day I search for something I have misplaced.
It's time to walk out the door. Damn! Where are my keys? In my purse. Where is my purse? With my coat. Where is my coat? I finally find all that but now, of course, I'm late. Now, where is that map I printed out of the place I'm going?
It's my own fault. I know this, too. I don't put things away when I should and so they pile up. Then, when I need that space, such as the top of the kitchen table so that we can eat dinner, I move the pile. I will go through it at another time. But here's the kicker--another time never presents itself. But another pile does. And another.
I think this is how hoarders start.
The piles and piles aren't just piles of stuff. They are piles of intentions. If I toss it all without even sorting through it, haven't I failed because I never actually accomplished what I intended to do? With those discarded piles I'll be throwing away even the mere opportunity to fulfill the intention.
But it's a new year. Time for a new perspective. So I've chosen to understand that with those discarded piles I'll be throwing away the mounds of failure I have associated with them.
Do you know how much 3 bags of shredded paper and 5 boxes of books and 3 loads of donations weigh? As I extract all that from my office, up the stairs, and out of my house I noticed the weight of it. It's heavy! It's difficult to move when I'm carrying so much. Then I think, no wonder I felt, at times, as if I were slogging through life during the last 2 years. Look at the baggage I created for myself.
And now that's it's gone, look at the space I've created for myself. Space to think, to feel, to live. My office and my life are now full of potential rather than self-defeating clutter. It feels pretty good.
I grab my keys, my purse, and my coat and head out the door. I don't need a map. I know exactly where I'm going.
Where are you headed in 2010? What do you need to do to get out of your own way to make sure you get there?
