De-clutter your mind. #writebravely

Posted on by writershilpa

 

The weather here has been bizarre,  lately. Diwali is just round the corner and the rains haven’t bid adieu yet! They keep giving unexpected visits, much to our annoyance, leaving us wondering when they will be gone for good! We don’t want our Diwali spirits dampened, do we? But, rains or no rains, we need to begin preparing for the Mother of all festivals.

Spring-cleaning, as we call it, has begun in most homes. And, de-cluttering, too. It took off in mine a couple  of days ago. This year, however, I decided to take it easy. I have always been a cleanliness freak.  Cleaning  was a favourite hobby! This year, though, my enthusiasm seems to have dimmed. I think it’s my wisdom at work.

Wisdom, you ask?

I know, you will wonder what does wisdom have to do with cleaning the house?  So, let me explain. All these years, I was hell-bent on keeping my physical surroundings clean. Not a speck of dirt could I tolerate. Things had to be in their rightful place and no junk lying around and taking up precious space in any of the rooms. I am particular about it even now,  but to a lesser degree.  But, of late, I have realised that  it’s what’s inside my mind that needs to be put in order than what’s outside!  So, you see now? Wisdom!

And, it is this wisdom that makes me take de-cluttering my mental rooms more seriously than de-cluttering my house.

 

There are scores of  things–clutter, actually–that need to be cleared from our heads; tossed out just like the junk we don’t need. Sharing here some changes we need to make in ourselves.

GET RID OF THIS JUNK:

Grudges: What good is it holding a grudge against anyone, at all? We all are cast in a different mould. Our thought processes, our behaviour, our reactions towards incidents are all going to be different. Accepting people as they are, accepting them along with their flaws helps in forgiving people their wrongdoings. We aren’t epitomes of perfection ourselves.  We too may be hurting people with our words, our deeds. Don’t they forgive us?  Holding a grudge will only  poison our heart! Do we really need it?

“Forgive and forget, for your own peace of mind.”

 

Negativity:  A negative attitude, is what pulls us down. Like the other day, when hubby informed me that his colleagues wanted to taste some home-baked cookies. Not having baked cookies in a long time, I had lost confidence in myself – my emphatic, “They won’t come out right!” , further strengthened my resolve of not baking those at all. Hubby was quick to reprimand me and saw to it that I baked the cookies. Surprisingly, for me, they came out perfect. His colleagues enjoyed them and placed orders for a couple of batches!

That is the negativity that needs to be thrown out, along with all the other junk, and replaced with positivity –  loads of it. It sure is a difficult road to achieving these goals, but change our mindsets, we must. It is a daily affair – this spring-cleaning of our selves. Positive affirmations on a daily basis, keeping a vigil every moment, staying alert to even the  faintest of sounds of the negativity creeping in stealthily needs to be developed into a habit.

“You can’t live a positive life with a negative mind.”

 

Stop being a people-pleaser: Yes, I admit, sometimes I do it. It became a habit after I got married and found I had a MIL who – I felt – needed to be kept happy. I used to be scared of things going wrong and she getting disturbed (she was a patient of schizophrenia). So, everything I did, I did to please her, keep her happy – as if that was going to help! It was an illness and anything could trigger an “episode”. But, I was naive, and scared, and wanted her to be peaceful. So, pleasing her became a habit. And, now, even after her passing, I am unable to shed that habit, try as I might.

I want people to be happy, so I go out of my way, at times. I fear saying a, “NO”. Pathetic, I know, but that’s how I have been. Changing a habit of almost 20 years is not easy. But, I know I ought to do it. Every cell in my body needs a thorough clean-up  to rid myself of this habit. It takes its toll on me – body, mind and soul – and leaves me in a complete mess.

“If you try to please all, you please none.”

 

Making just a few changes in ourselves on a regular basis, de-cluttering all the junk from our mind and making space for positive and happy thoughts is what is a necessary part of self-care. It is tough, no doubt, but it is for our well-being, our safety, that we need to make an effort.

Working on ourselves is never easy. There are days when we have it all sorted out.  But, there are also days when everything goes against us. Every damn thing! And, it is on these very days when we need to gather ourselves, our courage and just push ourselves ahead.  Come what may, we need to keep moving ahead; turning back is not an  option, is it?

So, keep going, my lovelies, for the sake of YOU!

Love,

SHILPA..

 

Why you need to de-clutter your mind.

 

Linking this post to The WriteTribe Problogger October 2017 Blogging Challenge.

#writebravely          #writetribeproblogger

Write Tribe

 

Published by writershilpa

Writing and art are, for me, a panacea for my restless Geminian nerves. Blogging gives me peace in the chaos called Life, and art helps me distract my wandering mind. An obsession with healthy eating and fitness led me to create this health and wellness blog. Apart from health posts you will also find book reviews, my art work and experiments with words here, at Metanoia. My writing companions--my pets--offer me precious insights into Life and are a constant source of inspiration to me! So, do get comfy, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy your visit. Your presence here means a lot to me, you know?

45 thoughts on “De-clutter your mind. #writebravely”

  2. Wonderful Shilpa! Just plain wonderful! I so agree with you that cleaning begins with cleaning your heart! I see so many people who are sticklers for clean surroundings and clean homes and what not…but fail to cleanse their thoughts, their attitude. What is the point? Isn’t it? (And I am not saying this because I am generally a slob ;)) Ahem…so. nicely done!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Cleaning from within makes it easier to clean without. This year my house has been cleaned thoroughly every week so Diwali cleaning has been given a miss. Also with all the diets in play food is also given short shrift.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Shilpa my dear, you are one of the sweetest, gentlest persons I know. You think too much! Loved the points you made. Off with negativity, grudges and all that extra baggage. We need to please ourselves more than others. All the same, Diwali without cleaning hell…wish I could pull that off!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. People pleasers have it tough, I know from experience. Loved your emotional spring cleaning. Reading your posts makes my heart sing every time, thank you for writing such lovely posts.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Good points Shilpa. Iam fine with avoiding ‘people pleasing behaviour’ and negativity but forgiving someone doesn’t come easily for me. Even though it’s difficult to change our old bad habits, it’s a great first step to even accept our faults.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. This was such a wonderful post, Shilpa. I am.guilty if the first one. I can’t forget. I try to forgive. But lately I found out that I don’t completely forgive unless the person asked for forgiveness. It’s an inability, but I stand by my feelings even though I know I am the one getting hurt due to this inability. Honestly, I feel that I’m faking it if I talk to someone who hurt me as if everything is alright between us. Glad to know that you are focussing on cleaning up all the diets residing inside you. We should all do that every now and then.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Such a sensible post, Shilpa. This kind of cleaning needs to be fine regularly. I just wish it was easy to do it. About Diwali cleaning, that had gone off well for me. Last stretch now. 😊

    Liked by 1 person

  11. What a fantastic post! I love it. These are things we should get rid off. Not just Just annually but forever 🙂
    Coming to spring cleaning, I head home for Diwali ensuring I don’t have to clean my house. The mums will do theirs. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  12. That’s the best kind of spring cleaning. Hugs to you for getting over the people-pleasing bit. We need to understand that all people (not just ones suffering from mental illnesses) will have ‘episodes’ no matter what we do.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Such a fab post, Shilpa. What matters is what’s inside and that is what we should be cleaning/working on. And this is something that we should be cleaning regularly!!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. All of this is so true. When I carry a grudge against another person, I’ve let that person have free space inside my head and that person has won. It’s time to kick out the freeloader! It feels so good to let it go and start with a clean heart.

    Liked by 1 person

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