Wild About Thursday!!
Where we have been: Clear the Clutter!!
Life gets full of clutter – keeping up with organizing can be a chore we hate, or an activity we enjoy. It may be hard to see what the clutter is showing us. Is it showing us where we are out of alignment with our values – our purpose – or our vision?
It can be a symptom of stress! And a convenient way of hiding out! Messy can be a comfortable place to continue feeling overwhelmed, and stuck. It can lead to procrastination and inaction. According to Libby Sander, an expert in organizational behavior, “your brain likes order, and constant visual reminders of disorganization drains your cognitive resources, reducing your ability to focus. It can reduce working memory and lead to coping and avoidance strategies that lead to snacking on junk food and watching TV.” If you are present to clutter, you may hear it as a constant low-grade fight or flight response, leading to health problems.
Tori shared several ways to approach the clutter in your life. Starting with setting a timer for 10 minutes and starting – anywhere – just start! Let it build and you will feel energy flow into those stuck places. Simply reducing the clutter in your environment can increase your satisfaction in life. If you missed her download on Feng Shui, you can find it at: https://aw16b058.aweb.page/Free-Gift
A few of her favorites:
- De-clutter your home and office environments, including your closets and attics. Clutter and dirt stagnate energy, which will keep you from moving forward in life. Let go of the old so the new can show up.
- Look at the things you own and ask yourself: “Does this bring me joy?” Only surround yourself with items that you love. This will ensure that the energy that surrounds you in nurturing and conductive to health, happiness, and prosperity.
- If it’s broken, fix it! This is a very important, especially with plumbing and leaks of any kind. The water element represents wealth in Feng Shui, and you don’t want to see your money going down the drain.
Where we are going next: Judgment and alignment with values, purpose, and vision
Judgment
When you work from your vision your inner light shines, you are passionate and full of joyful energy.
The biggest shadow on your light is judgment. We all have the inner judge: continually searching our environment, people, places, things, and judging: I like it – I don’t like it – that’s right – that’s wrong – that’s good – that’s bad. There is nothing wrong with judgment since we all do it, it is neutral.
What we don’t often do is question them. We become so attached to them they are automatic, and they operate below the surface and impact our lives in BIG ways. If you were to become aware, you’d notice a lot of them are about you! I’m not enough, I’ll look stupid, I can’t, I’m terrible at card games, I don’t like humidity, I like the lake…. they run continuously.
It’s attitude, and deeper than that – we call them ME – we identify them as part of our personality! As if who I am is a collection of judgments! What if you are more that and can start to operate from a different place? A place that is curious and brings inquiry to your judgments?
Ask yourself as you monitor your judgments – Is it true? Why don’t I like humidity? Does it cause me to avoid a fun vacation? What is it about the lake I like? How can I create that experience while it’s humid? You see where I’m going?
You have probably met someone you made a snap judgment about and then either avoided them or decided they couldn’t be your friend. You may have gotten to know them better and discovered they are thoughtful, generous, and fun. Then you felt a bit humbled. For a brief moment you glimpsed how judgment limits you.
Here’s another example: You want a promotion. Your dream job includes Board presentations. You have judged speaking in front of others to be terrifying, most likely based on an experience from your past. You may have judged that you don’t have anything interesting to say, no one will listen to you, or you are boring. You have made up that story and now call it – just the way I am. You could as easily judge it as exciting and fun. People do it everyday and enjoy it. What’s different? The judgment. A fear of speaking is not you – unless you insist on it.
Image by John Hain
For an effective life – take committed action based on prioritizing your values as expressed in your mission or vision. That requires judgment, and if you are too attached to current judgments about yourself, your workplace, or your co-workers you will experience conflict and stress, rather than enjoyment and peace.
When you don’t have what you want in life it is not because of lack of commitment! It is what you are committed to. Let me say that again: It is what you are committed to. If you are committed to your judgments and they limit your opportunities – you get what you’re committed to. Limited opportunity. In fact, you won’t even see opportunity, because your focus is on the limits you perceive.
In other words – you are using the same amount of energy to be committed to what you say you don’t want as it would take to be committed to what you say you do want. Do you find that hard to believe?
Let me give an example: I want to lose 15 pounds in 6 months. I say I want that, I plan a diet, an exercise program and create a schedule. I’m all set – right? Right? I’ve made up my mind. Well – maybe – if I’m committed it will happen. Committed to what? The actions? I could force myself to take action and be miserable the entire time and follow through and lose 15 pounds, that is true.
Or I could uncover what I’ve been committed to that requires me to be in a position to lose 15 pounds and replace that. I’ve been committed to being right about the judgment that says I’m not worth loving care and attention.
It shows up as – it’s too hard, self-indulgence, taking the easy way, being comfortable, pretending I’ll take action tomorrow, and giving myself excuses. (this can be true for several goals I may have) If part of my vision for myself is to be healthy and lose weight and 6 months later I still have not lost 15 pounds what was I committed to? You got it: being right about my judgment that I’m not worth loving care and attention.
If I could shift my mindset and become committed to loving self-care it would not be a struggle against my own resistance, my actions would naturally result in not only losing weight, but in increased strength and stamina from exercise. I would use the same energy, but it would feel effortless rather than struggle. (I’ll let you know in 6 months if I make that shift)
How does that align with my vision? My vision is to live in a vibrant world filled with love, joy, and freedom. If I don’t practice loving self-care, I am not in alignment with my vision. My unhappiness flows from that, not from needing to lose 15 pounds.
Image by Hermann & F. Richter
I hope you find value as we go forward together in my podcast and newsletters. I’m creating master classes and setting my schedule for coaching and training and will let you know about these opportunities. I look forward to spending time together.
We have been looking within and I’d like to remind you and myself that we impact the world we live in, and so am adding a section I’ll call
Food for greater thought:
How to build a resilient future using ancient wisdom by Julia Watson/ TED2020
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