Is your life chaotic? Do you feel you never get everything completed? Is life whirling around you in a constant frenzy?

The society of today is governed by how much one can do. It's about performance, creating an image, building wealth, gathering as many acquisitions as possible, and staying busy. When one is busy the world believes you are making things happen. The busier you are the more you produce and the more the world thinks you're superhuman.

But in this process of building and producing, what has society lost? When is the last time you spent an afternoon in the park, or watched the moon rise into the sky? When did you last take an afternoon siesta or stop by to visit someone elderly or made time to help someone who needed a hand? Did you stop by the rose garden and lean over to smell the roses or did you slightly remember a blur of color as you ran by? When did you leave your house early enough to leisurely make the drive to wherever you were going?

Not the American way of life is it? Many cultures know the importance of long lunches and an afternoon snooze to refresh the body and soul. Some indulge in an afternoon cup of tea and a little conversation. Remember the days when people actually sat on the front porch and didn't just wave at their neighbors, they actually invited them up to sit and chat awhile.

Life is so full of stuff. Technically that's what it is - stuff. There are so many demands on our time it's a wonder anyone can surface from the pressures of it. I can remember experiencing this kind of life, and even now I must sometimes remind myself of what to let go of and what to keep.

What I'm talking about is de-cluttering your life. So many things take up space and really have no bearing on what is truly important. But you through society's conditioning probably believe it's more important to do rather than be. There's a song I hear on the radio in which the dad continually promises he'll make time for his son, but rarely does. Then the tables turn when the son is grown and dad now wants to connect with his son, but his son is too busy to take the time to visit. The dad then realizes "my boy is just like me."

What does it mean to de-clutter? Clutter is simply the accumulation of stuff that hasn't any use but you keep it around. Clothes in your closet, the stuff in the bottom of the closet, the heaps in the garage or basement, boxes of things you think you'll someday use, relationships that should have been released, past pain that doesn't serve your highest good, stored anger, piles of papers on your desk, drawers that can hardly be opened, and the endless parade of obligations that deplete your energy and rob you of inner joy.

Here's the sad part of clutter. As long as it's present in your life new things cannot appear. And furthermore, with all that stuff in the way you cannot see the good that lies below it. You must first remove the old stuff so the new things can enter your life. It cannot work any other way. In addition there's this thing called stress, and it is killing people continuously. Even the medical profession now realizes that stress depletes energy, lowers immune response, can actually contribute to developing many diseases, and takes the joy out of living.

I remember when I divorced seven years ago. My new house was much smaller and as I took my first load of clothes over to the new house my closet was almost full. Now I had a dilemma. Two of my children were still living with me so there were no extra closets. That meant I had to downsize my wardrobe and fast. In the end two thirds of my clothes were given as a charitable donation. At the time of my forced de-cluttering, I was kind of upset, but as time went by I realized I didn't miss the clothes at all and had more than enough without them. Wake up call! Anyone who has ever downsized in any fashion probably understands this. We don't need all we think we need!

But simplifying your life goes much deeper than simply cleaning out your closet. Are you holding onto past grievances that are pulling you down rather than raising you up? What if you let them go and felt the freedom of clearing them out? I can promise it's much more simplfying to be free from the heaviness of all that stuff that drags you down.

Are you one of those individuals who always say "yes" when you know you're overdoing? Maybe it's time to say "no" and give yourself some time to freely live and enjoy your life. As a spiritual wholeness coach I hear this complaint all the time: I don't have time to do such and such. I simply tell them that it's their choice. No one is forcing them to do anything; they have chosen to do it. People so often overextend themselves and it relates to helping them feel validated. When you continually agree to do a particular service, volunteer or otherwise, people like and appreciate you. But that's the wrong kind of validation; the only approval you need is from yourself.

Take time to do the things that raise you up and make you smile. Relax and enjoy your life. Take time to actually lean over and breathe in that luscious fragrance of the roses. We talked above about death and how fearful thinking about it can be for many. Easy solution. Think about something else, something that makes you happy. Get rid of that extra stuff and de-clutter your life. That means in your home, your office, your mind, your heart and your spirit. Focus on what is truly important instead of all your worldly accumulations. Remember this: The most precious things in life cannot be built by hand or bought by man. Then you'll understand the simplicity and freedom of a wonderful life!

Carolyn Porter, D. Div.
Empower Productions, Inc.
info@drcarolynporter.com
www.drcarolynporter.com