Many of us think of spring cleaning as something that involves lots of physical work – from scrubbing our carpets to de-grunging our garages, from tidying our desks to cleaning out our cars. But spring is actually a great opportunity to cleanse ourselves mentally and psychologically as well.
Make time to take stock of your emotional, mental, and physical well-being in an effort to purge the unnecessary, while putting the emphasis on the positive and healthy areas in your life.
Give your closet or home a once-over to evaluate whether you want to keep, donate or purge things. Take a look at your life’s emotional, mental and physical aspects. List things and people you find to be positive and those that you find contribute only negative energy. Once you start looking closely, you may be surprised to find out which things and people fall into which category. This process may feel both freeing and upsetting at the same time because you may discover that things and people have shifted in your life – for better or worse.
Once you have a better overview of what’s in your emotional, mental, and physical “closet” it’s time to start figuring out what to do with the “keep, donate, purge” piles you have created. Obviously, you can cannot donate or purge people out of your live. However, you can start to redefine the roles they will play in your life. You can decide how much and what type of energy you wish to expend.
Redefining your relationships with things and people in your life often involves creating new boundaries with others, changing your habits or way of thinking and doing things, and learning to accept that as you change, your relationships with others and yourself change. Remember, change is frequently bittersweet and the painful part of it often is the primary deterrent. However, if you mentally prepare yourself for this side of change you will likely be better equipped to muster your way through the tough stuff as you make your way to the other side.
After this process, you’ll have some difficult decisions to make about certain areas of your life. In the end, however, you’ll feel happier, lighter and more confident. There is now room in your life for new things, ideas, people and adventures. Removing the clutter in your life will open the door for a simpler, more fulfilling experience with the world and others.
Do some mental spring cleaning
There are so many tasks involved with keeping a household and business afloat that it’s easy to lose track of why you’re doing it in the first place. So: strip away all the to-do lists and tasks, and pretend that a magical army of helpers has appeared to take care of things for you. Now: would you keep your business as it is? Or would you make some changes …?
Make it fun!
So spring cleaning is good for you but it’s still hard to get started sometimes. To make it easier, and even a little fun, here are a few things you can do:
Make some extra cash: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Dance to the beat: Put some fun music on and dance and sing along.
Reward yourself. Once the cleaning’s done, go out and buy something for yourself using the money you made selling things you didn’t need anymore.
Make it a family affair: Get the kids involved and turn it into a game. Put on a “fashion show” so you can see what doesn’t fit them anymore; reward them for cleaning out their rooms and getting rid of toys they don’t play with anymore; and create some fun crafts with things you are getting rid of.
