From my pre-teens to now I have never been a tidy person. The older I got the more coping mechanisms I applied to force myself to clean up my house. Whether that was not to discourage a cleaning lady and make her quit after the first assignment, or inviting people over for dinner and not embarrass myself by presenting a messy home.
One of my former bosses, whose managerial skills were beyond awful, told me a very true sentence whilst he had a look at my desk.
“Chaos in life, chaos in mind”
It was not then and there that I’ve had a moment of epiphany, but only years later. Right about a few weeks ago when I was in the process of being diagnosed with a depressive episode resulting from too many cumbersome things in my life, it simply occurred.
“We don’t like the chaos we live in, we like it nice and clean, but for some reason we’re incapable of keeping it that way”
All of a sudden I started to tidy up, started to open those drawers and closets, took out the content and began to organize and throw away to then re-store the items. What happened to me was a fairly simple process: my mind had been stuck in a pile of “stuff” and it desperately needed me to straighten out some things, clean out and get rid of the baggage and so I began, in mind and in life.
All things take their time and to everyone with the same issue I can only say the following: Unless your mind has not committed to a beginning of decluttering, your surroundings won’t follow suit.
What are my learnings as a newly founded tidy person?
- Believe you can, because you can – always
- Babysteps – one drawer at a time, Rome wasn’t built in a day
- Routine takes 30 days – start with a simple task which you do every day, like making your bed (here’s my favorite example from a navy SEAL)
- We all have good and bad days, we cannot be tidy at all times 🙂
And here’s to future moments of a cozy and clean home.
Love and Happiness to you
Sarah
Seeking the Happy Place 