Uncluttering Your Life In A New Season Yields Three Remarkable Results
Because physical clarity ushers in mental and emotional clarity
When we’re rounding the curve past 50 years, the usual milestone changes can be unsettling, even when we know they’re going to happen.
What kind of changes am I referring to?
Firstly, fewer people living under the roof now. The kids are grown and on their own. Or at least, getting ready to re-launch again. And partnerships or marriages end, for a variety of reasons … like disinterest, divorce or death.
Secondly, our physical or mental health can take a turn, whether temporarily or permanently. Our current home layout may no longer be suitable.
Thirdly, careers are not bulletproof, either, are they. We’re pivoting with what we do far more often than our parents ever did.
It’s empowering when we choose the changes. But if they happen unexpectedly and they’re not welcome? That’s no fun.
When disruption arrives with one or more of these midlife events, do you feel shocked? Mournful? In denial? Or just plain stuck?
What’s your next move?
Begin to reframe life’s changes in a positive manner: Discover three amazing benefits when you start decluttering your home.
This practical process can be the portal to discovering joy in your next life chapter!
Benefit #1: Enhanced Mental Clarity
Decluttering is a powerful movement these days for good reason: the square footage of our houses has increased substantially over the last 20 years. It stands to reason that the quantity of household stuff stored within has also followed suit.
Don’t get me wrong: it’s natural to accumulate many things along the way while we live a full life, raise a family, and pursue our interests. But when the household size shrinks or our own activities shift, now we have excess items which are no longer needed or used.
When we allow clutter to continue taking up physical space, it also commands mental and emotional space.
In fact, excess stuff in the house can actually emit negative energy! It crowds out the potential to substitute items that support where we are now or where we might head next. This is what leads to feeling stuck.
It’s uncomfortable to be in between chapters of our life, knowing one is winding down but feeling uncertain about moving into the next one.
Yet when you begin uncluttering your life to remove outdated, unused belongings, you open space not just in your home but in your mind, as well.
We can appreciate the Past without having to cling to each and every physical reminder of it.
Releasing the old with love helps prepare us to welcome something new with hope.
Now we are receptive to something different … something new … something that resonates and invigorates our next act.
Doesn’t that sound refreshing?
Benefit #2: Simplified Daily Routines
Most would agree that it’s draining when we have too much stuff in our home.
Maneuvering from one room to the next can be challenging. Maintaining more stuff than we need takes additional energy. Locating a particular item takes extra time.
How many times have you bought something at the store, only to discover later that you already had three of them hidden in a cabinet or drawer?
Wouldn’t you revel in a home where everything has a place and a purpose?
If you think about it, stuff we no longer need or use really becomes a distraction in our daily life. So consider how light you would feel with space between your things—the things that matter most to you now!
Imagine stepping into your day, not having to tussle with getting around things or searching for things. Instead, you can focus on what your day’s agenda will be. Anxiety is not part of the picture. Calm is the reigning cadence of your morning prep.
Indeed, paring down to the essentials which support your current routine is an ultimate self-care bonus when uncluttering your life!
Benefit #3: Sharpened Perspective
Change can be difficult, frustrating, sad, and scary, particularly when we’ve been happy with the status quo. But it’s also an integral part of how life unfolds.
Accepting the role that Change plays in our life is the first step towards taking charge of how we want our narrative to continue.
We can’t always direct our situation. But we can always control our response to our new direction.
We can pause to reflect on where we are at now. Reassess what matters most in the present situation. And learn to release what has come to an end.
Holding on is believing there is only a Past. Letting go is knowing there is a Future. —Daphne Rose Kingma
While it can take effort to accept that one chapter is over, how about claiming the privilege to write a new one?
Uncluttering your life is one of the best proactive strategies you can take to prepare for a new chapter to unfold.
Paring back does not dishonor our Past. We are simply clearing space for our Present so that we can shift into our Future.
There is no typical time limit for how long a physical uncluttering process takes. Everyone has varying amounts of things and stuff, so each of us needs a unique amount of time to make space clearing decisions.
Above all, recognize that decluttering is a continual process. However, it can be a truly liberating process, when you curate for what matters most now!
(Brenda Henning, another one for you! -Mary V)