Dump It Day
Wednesdays are cleaning days at my house, so it occurred to me it’s a perfect opportunity to share my philosophies on Dump It Day.
Ready to lighten your load?
I say DO IT!
You are going to go through your house and be ruthless and relentless about Dumping Stuff!
Start with the kitchen: get rid of everything that is outdated…herbs you can’t recognize that aren’t labeled… questionable denizens of the refrigerator… half boxes of foods you tried and you simply don’t like.
Get rid of the cracked plates, the busted cups, the too-many-to-count plastic tubs you’re saving in case you need them.
Hit the rest of the house: dump the magazines you’ve never read, or haven’t picked up in a year.
Go through the drawers that are magnets for I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with-this and de-clutter them.
Get rid of worn-out shoes, frayed shirts, tattered t-shirts, and the clothing that was you ten years ago but you’ll never wear now, even if you fit them.
Get rid of the white-elephant gifts you’ve kept in case the giver comes over, the toys that the kids (two-leggers and four-leggers both) no longer play with, the bits and bobs and scraps that used to have a purpose but don’t any more.
Throw out what nobody would want, BUT donate what someone else could use.
Why do all this?
The Universe hates a vacuum, and when you get rid of what doesn’t support you It has room to send you something new and wonderful — though you should be ready for it not to be physical in nature.
And if there isn’t that much you needed to dump physically — or you still have energy left — sit down and write yourself a dump list.
We’ve all had things we wanted to do that never got done, whether it’s a wish from high school or something we thought about two years ago, and it goes on our list of “do it.” But maybe your tastes have changed, or your goals, or your interests.
Time to get them off the list!
Write down everything you have wanted to do, from speak German to visit every state in the Union to learn to crochet to run for political office. Every bit of it.
And look at each one clearly and ask yourself, “In the time I have left in my life, do I want to devote time to this?”
And if it’s no, CROSS IT OFF. Without guilt.
And spend time on a shorter, but much more valuable “WANT to do” list.
Who are you now? What is important to you now? Whereas in your younger years it may have been getting more for yourself in myriad ways, how are you feeling now?
Dump the guilt. Dump the disappointments in yourself. Dump the negatives. If you are going to do something for the world, they only get in the way, like so many dustbunnies and empty soda cans.
Make room in your life for others.
Make room in your life for healing, and giving, and sharing.
I guarantee you that what you collect THEN will only be the life-giving intangibles that will fill your days, rather than clutter them.
