Making Space in Life for What Really Matters

Making Space in Life for What Really Matters

“The quality of your commitments will determine the course for your life.” ~Ralph Marston

The computer is running low on space, the email account is flashing a warning that my storage is almost full, and my smart phone is behaving more like antiquated technology than the latest and greatest it claims to be. Furniture that was his family’s, my family’s, and the families of people we do not know seems to crowd us as we try to maneuver through the house.  Space is “a continuous area or expanse that is free, available, or unoccupied,” and it is sorely lacking in my home, phone, computer, and life because of the quality of too many things I’ve committed to in those places.  I’ve committed to unnecessary apps on my phone, uninformative messages in my email, an overabundance of things we might need some day in my home, and not always meaningful activities and people to fill the slots in my precious 14-18 waking hours each day.  It’s time to take a deep breath, but it’s almost impossible with so much stuff.

Delbert McClinton has a song called “Too Much Stuff”  with the chorus saying:

Well, it’s way too much
You’re never gonna get enough
You can pile it high
But you’ll never be satisfied

It got me to thinking about why we feel we must have so much stuff in every area of life.

*We might need it.
*It looks appealing. (great marketing people at work)
*Someone else has it.

I began an experiment of sorts one year ago to deal with some of the stuff in my life. I started with my closet. It seemed like a small, tangible place to begin.  While I still have more clothes than I really need, I don’t have nearly as many as I once had, and I am encouraged to look at other areas of my home and life now that I know the world won’t end if I have less stuff.

If you find that leaving home makes getting a project written or a book read easier, you would probably benefit from getting rid of some of your stuff.  If we want to have calmer less frantic filled lives, we need to come to terms with at least some of our stuff, and make what we choose to keep really matter to the quality of our lives.

If it isn’t the things in your home that are the problem, maybe it’s the activities in your life.  For thousands of years, people have saved during times of plenty so they would have something during seasons of not enough.  It’s just our nature to want to have enough on hand of activities, people, and things.  When it impacts our quality of life, when it weighs us down and leaves us seeking to avoid dealing with the problem of too much, it’s a good sign that it’s time to make a change.  Organizational people have lots of tips for how to begin, and what works for me might not work for you.  Just start somewhere to begin to deal with your suffocating amount of stuff in your home or your life.

  1. Decide what area bothers you the most and begin there.
  2. Make a plan. How will the changes you make impact you? Let that motivate you to keep moving forward. (I love that I don’t waste lots of time choosing my clothes each day, for example)
  3. Be intentional. If you can spend 15 minutes each day working toward your goal, make that a priority to spend that time every day.
  4. Take time to appreciate what you accomplish

The quality of where you choose to commit your time and space matters. It’s your choice and your life. Choose to make it count!

Thoughts to Encourage

Joy is the will which labors, which overcomes obstacles, which knows triumph.~ William Butler Yeats

Whether you think you can or think you can’t you’re right. - Henry Ford

The best way out is always through. ~ Robert Frost

Real difficulties can be overcome, it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. ~ Theodore N. Vail

Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall. ~ Oliver Goldsmith

You must be the change you want to see in the world. - Mahatma Gandhi

Nothing helps like a good nap…

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A Dog is Faithful…