Spring Cleaning Your Life Continues with the Junk Drawer

Bear with me here as I continue on the topic of spring cleaning for one more week…

My husband and I tried to jump on the “spring cleaning” bandwagon last week. We worked diligently on things for a day and that’s about how long it lasted. While picking up some random clutter I gathered things into the palm of my hand and headed for the “junk drawer”.

We all have them – a place to keep the things we don’t know where to keep. I pulled open the drawer; it opened about an inch and then stopped. It was jammed.

Don’t you hate when that happens? You stuff so much into a drawer that it doesn’t even open anymore. And this time it didn’t even open far enough to stuff my fingers inside, in hopes that I could loosen the jam. My husband came around the corner as I was cursing “the stupid drawer”, as if it was the drawer’s fault that we had jammed too much into it. And then I stopped, looked at my husband, and said, “This is the subject of my next blog!” He looked at me kinda crazy-like – but I’ve come to learn that when I get a crazy look from my husband, I’ve usually got a good idea!

Our lives sometimes become a “junk drawer”. We allow others to stuff us full with their schedules, their needs, and their plans. And just like a junk drawer, we rarely notice there’s a problem until things don’t work anymore. We feel unmotivated, unfulfilled, stressed, and just plain unhappy. You see, when a junk drawer gets too full, it doesn’t work anymore. And so it is with our life; we keep cramming and cramming until we reach a breaking point.

So what do we do when the junk drawer gets too full? We stop and take an assessment. What items are necessary and which are not? What belongs in a different area of the house? We need to do the same assessment with our own lives. What schedule hogs are really necessary? What could we probably say “no” to? Just as we need to prioritize what gets a space in a junk drawer, we need to also prioritize what gets a space in our lives.

Becky,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
“Set priorities for your goals. A major part of successful living lies in the ability to put first things first. Indeed, the reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.” ~Unknown

What Does Your Purse Say About You?

They come in all shapes, colors, and sizes these days. Gone are the times of the one size fits all, in your favorite shade of brown or black. Most women own more than one and they switch them out like their shoes to accent their personality, outfit, or mood of the day.

A few days ago my girlfriend hurriedly burst into the office, plunked her purse on the table and declared, “Look at this…This purse represents my life!” It didn’t take much pondering to realize what it was she was talking about. Her purse…was a disaster. Although, I didn’t think of her life in that way, her purse on the other hand was stuffed to overflowing; receipts, papers, and notes spilling out over the top. Normally a narrow oblong form, it had now taken on more of an almond shape; narrow at the ends and wider in the middle. Stuffed so full it was way past the point of ever being zipped again. She was eating healthy that day however; the two oranges that she had balanced on the top of her purse had rolled off onto the table. We exchanged a quick laugh and she was off to her meeting.

My thoughts quickly moved to my own purse . . . my everyday purse is more on the larger size. That just means that I can cram more stuff into it before it spills over the top. If I took everything that I had in my purse at that moment and tried to stuff it into my girlfriend’s purse it would’ve looked much the same as hers; exploding and unorganized. But I never thought about whether it represents my life or not.

I suppose that perception could go for anything … the way we keep our desks, our cars, our bedrooms, our homes, our lives. I came home that day and weeded through the items in my purse. I was afraid what I might find. I’ve been known to win many a prize playing the ever-popular party game, “What’s The Most Unusual Thing In Your Purse”. I was able to trash 3 pens that didn’t work, an old grocery list from 3 weeks ago, an “I Voted” sticker from last year, a broken piece of jewelry, and numerous receipts, wrappers, and reminders that I no longer needed. I put everything else back in my purse in the most organized fashion I could and quickly planned to move on to my desk next.

Take some time during this first week of spring to clean out the parts of your life that really need it. The disorder that can pile up and make your life feel unorganized and overwhelming can be hiding in the most common places; the magazine rack, the front door catch-all basket, the garage, your email inbox, your computer desktop, and of course your purse. My challenge to you is to start with your purse and move out from there. Oh, and I’m curious to know, what’s the most unusual item you found in your purse? If I find it to indeed be odd, there’s a prize in it for you! We’ll be tracking responses under the comments here on our blog, as well as on our Facebook fan page (hey, drop by and become a fan!).

Jenny,
Sister of Soul

Soul-spiration of the Week:
"Being clear of clutter is one of the greatest aids I know to discovering and manifesting the life you want." ~Karen Kingston

Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?

Pardon my rant but I get so messed up by daylight saving time. I know it’s just an hour twice a year but for some reason my body and mind have a hard time adapting. So this morning, as my husband and I were going around checking all the time-keeping devices in the house, and repeatedly asking, “What time is it again?” it hit me.

Does anyone really know what time it is?

Oh, we think that just because we wear a watch or have a clock in view we know the time. But the hour of the day doesn’t really mean much in the grand scheme of things does it? It might give us a measure of security and assurance that we won’t be late for an appointment or forget about an important meal (heaven forbid we lose track of time and forget to eat supper!). But when it comes to time, isn’t “timing” more important?

I venture to bet that your days are probably a lot like mine; long to-do lists and the compulsive need to stay on time, remain on task, and get things done. How many time-management workshops have you attended or books have you read? Too many to count? I thought so.

Time is the great equalizer; gender, age, race, and creed make no difference. When it comes to time we all get 24 hours each day; no more, no less. So then, there is no managing of time, only managing of ourselves.

What if instead of relying on the clock on the wall, we relied on our intuition and our own internal sense of timing? I wonder how different my day would look if instead of focusing on my long task list I focused internally instead. Would I instinctively know my priorities? Would I hear the whisper of my inner voice telling me a friend needs to hear from me now? Would the anxiety I sometimes feel as a deadline looms, give way to a sense of peace and inner knowing that things will all come together in due time?

Just considering the alternative to the typical daily time-crunch makes me want to explore the concept further! Have you ever felt a desire to shift from a time-on-the-wall existence to one of “internal timing”? Or maybe you’ve already made that transition in your life? Please share your thoughts, tips, and experience. I for one would love to hear your story!

Soul Sister,
Kim

Soulspiration of the Week:
“Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.” ~Harvey MacKay

Stop and Take a Mental Picture

One of my favorite shows on television is The Office. The show pokes fun at the very things so many of us encounter with co-workers every day. For any of you who also like this show I’m sure you’d agree the wedding of Jim and Pam has to be one of the best episodes. Fans of the show have been rallying for Pam and Jim to become a couple from day one. Then six seasons later we all cheered (and maybe shed a happy tear or two) while they finally married!

At the beginning of the show Jim and Pam started taking “mental pictures” of the day to guarantee that these moments would forever be a part of their memories. They’d take these pictures by raising their hands as if holding an imaginary camera and then to capture a moment they’d push the shutter button. During the show I just thought it was a cute thing they were doing together but then I got to thinking, “By using your hands to actually take a ‘mental picture’ would that help the memory stick?” I think it might.

We’ve all been reminded time and time again to “stop and smell the roses” and still we forget. So maybe the trick is to get into the habit of taking mental snapshots of the things we’d like to remember. I believe the action of stopping and “taking a picture” of something might just offer the pause in our busy day to recognize the simple things that we take for granted. And maybe with each “push of the shutter” we can trigger our brain to think, “Hey, this is something important and I’d like to file it away!”

So, what do you say? Let’s each turn ourselves into “memory photographers”! Give it a try and report back! I’d love to hear how it works for you!

Becky,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
“Always remember to slow down in life; live, breathe, and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything. ~Unknown

Me? Longing for More Winter?

I’ve always been one to hurry the end of winter along because I could not wait for spring to arrive. The cold, the snow . . . long about the first of March I’ve usually had enough of it and start wishing for the first signs of spring (and in the spirit of friendly competition, I’ve always wanted to be the one who will spot the first robin).

This year however, it’s a different story. A few weeks ago I checked something off of my “101 List of Things to Do Before I Die”. I’ve always wanted to introduce my children to cross country skiing. My first experience with the sport was some 15 years ago spending the weekend with a set of rentals. I fell in love with it! I can recall the exact moment - we we’re skiing on the evening of a full moon. It was amazing! It was calm, quiet and peaceful. I’ve only skied three or four times since then, but I always knew that it was something I would like to do as a family when the kids were old enough. There aren’t too many activities that will bring you outdoors during the winter months in the Midwest that don’t involve an engine, gasoline, and fast speed.

So a couple weeks ago we spent a Saturday combing the used sporting goods stores and clearance racks. We came home with everything we needed; four sets of skis, boots, and poles. Living in a rural area we are surrounded by countless opportunities of open and wooded trails right outside our back door. We haven’t missed a day of skiing yet. It’s obvious the kids love it; going sometimes two or three times a day blazing new trails for the family to try the following night.

So I’d really like to hold on to winter for just a couple more weeks. However, the forecast calls for temperatures in the 30’s and sunny days all week long. I may have just skied my last trip for the season. If that is the case though, what better way to end than with family under a full moon! It was spectacular!

Jenny,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
"The family is one of nature's masterpieces." ~George Santayana