I’ve almost finished listing to Mel Robbin’s audio book ‘Take Control of your Life’ and one of the questions that she asks her clients to ask themselves is ‘What happened to me?’ instead of ‘What am I going to do?’ The former question resonated with me particularly in the clutter area of my life.

I used to (and think I still do) want a tidy, decluttered and clean house, but this question made me think that maybe I like talking about the clutter or doing the decluttering more than I actually want to finish it. It got me thinking… what if the thought of decluttering energises me more than sitting in a tidy and organised house with nothing left to do? This surely can’t be the case, because I’ve always wanted to live in a decluttered house; however, I have never totally got there, so how do I know how it feels? The clutter is alway there somewhere in other rooms. Am I keeping it there so that I have something to do?

This morning (just like yesterday) I got up early and started re-decluttering the surfaces and cupboards in the kitchen. Yet again, I moved things into the bin, by the front door to go to the recycling bins later, or to another room in the house, and the sentence ‘What happened to me?’ popped into my head again. I stopped to write, knowing that somehow by writing or researching I might get the answer.

Maybe my family are right, unelsss I throw it all away, I will never shift it all out of my life. The stuff in the garage, in the spare room, lurking in the cupboards… it’s all been there in some shape or form for many years waiting for the day that I do something permanent with it. I do have phases where I get a lot done, but then it piles up again.

I turned 50 a couple of weeks ago and it’s made me think a lot more about life and how long we all have to do the things we want to do. I’ve always envisaged living until I’m 100, so I’m not planning on going anywhere just yet; however, I don’t want to leave this world with a cluttered house. So, the question is, when in my plan will my house be the way I want it to be? What happened to the ‘me’ that wanted it so badly that I’d do anything?

I haven’t got all the answers today, so please watch out for further updates. I’m going to try my best to change the way I am. This won’t just be for me, but for my family who have been living with (and helping me contribute to) the clutter for years and listening to me saying that I am going to do something about it.

They would throw it all away if they had the chance, and maybe they’re onto something. It worked for a client that Mel Robbin’s was coaching in the book mentioned the beginning of this blog. When she questioned her client during coaching, and pushed her to move forward with her ‘stuff’, I reacted the same way that she did. It was like she was coaching me; however, her client eventually did something about it by facing her fears instead of turning away from them or hiding them somewhere.

Until I write again…

Sandra