From Chaos to Comfort:
Unclutter Your Home, Your Head and Your Heart
by Harriet Schechter
 It wasn't always clutter.
Once upon a time (maybe just last year?) it seemed like good stuff. It may have been fun to dream about, shop for, or receive as a gift. It may have been delightful to use, lovely to look at, or both. But that was then.
Now it's all just...too...much.
Clutter is like guests that become pests: overstaying their welcome, taking up room in your life while contributing nothing but complications and chaos. But the objects clogging your home aren't clutter's only manifestations, just the most visible ones. There are also the clutter intangibles: stuff that overwhelms your mind, weighs down your heart, and suffocates your spirit.
If you've been yearning to lighten your load, here are some simple steps to get you started--and keep you going.
Start With Your Heart
You don't have to be clinically depressed or grief-stricken to experience a malaise born of sadness, stress, or sensitivity to the suffering of others. When you're weighed down by a heavy heart, moving forward can seem like a colossal effort.
In any year, life hands us events that can fill our hearts to breaking. Personal misfortune can be compounded by local and universal tragedies. For example, the events of September 11 still echo in our hearts. "People who didn't lose loved ones still feel as though they lost someone or something," says Dr. Robert J. Gottlieb, a San Diego-based clinical psychologist. "The feeling of 'things will never be the same' is common."
For sensitive souls, it is hard not to think about the families of the victims, and the men and women in our armed forces overseas. At the same time, we really don't want to forget their sacrifices; and we do want to remember some of the many extraordinary acts of kindness that have followed them.
So, how can you leave behind the heaviness while keeping the fullness of feeling? That is the challenge. A few ideas to help lighten your heart:
Don't set unrealistic goals. Eliminate one source of guilt: for example, if you have a habit of breaking your new year's resolutions, either don't make any new ones or "only make resolutions consisting of a small step or steps towards your goal," suggests Dr. Gottlieb. Otherwise you may be setting yourself up for failure.
Cultivate an attitude of gratitude and giving. A grateful and generous heart has space for peace. By making a conscious effort to count your blessings on a daily basis and to help others, you may feel your heart lifting as the weight of last year's heartbreak slips away...
>>> Click to Continue Reading "From Chaos to Comfort"©
Copyright Harriet Schechter. This article was originally
published at our website, SoulfulLiving.com, in October 2002, as part of Soulful Living's "Getting Clear" Issue.
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