Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Jun/July 2019 Aspire Magazine FULL Issue | Page 27
Packing for an unknown destination makes
decision-making so much harder. In addition
to feeling frazzled, your burden includes
managing a whole bunch of stuff that you
may or may not use.
We all know how it feels to be overwhelmed
by too much stuff. As a professional
organizer and life coach, I am called into
people’s homes to help them navigate the
clutter. Most people think that they have a
clutter problem. I find the clutter is more
like a messenger loudly proclaiming that
you have skipped a very important step:
honing in on your current life situation,
a.k.a. your “destination.”
The step of identifying who you are right now
gets bypassed for a couple of reasons. First,
you may have experienced life transitions
like switching jobs, becoming an empty
nester, having a health crisis, or retiring
without altering how your home functions. In
your mind, you are still cooking for a family
of six even though it’s just the two of you.
What food buying habits or food preparation
habits would change when cooking for
two instead of six? When you examine
the situation consciously, it’s obvious that
what you keep, the quantities you buy, and
recipes sizes ought to shift. The key word
here is consciously.
I’ve noticed that the transitions that happen earlier
in life, such as going to college, getting married or
having children, require us to intentionally figure out
what skills are required, what stuff we will use, and
the support we need to rise to the new occasion.
I’ve noticed that the transitions that happen
earlier in life, such as going to college,
getting married or having children, require
us to intentionally figure out what skills are
required, what stuff we will use, and the
support we need to rise to the new occasion.
In contrast, life transitions later in life might
seem to just happen, leading you to look
around at the clutter backlog and wonder,
“How did I get so much stuff?”
The second reason why someone may have
skipped the step of identifying who she is now
is that she feels like the best part of her life is
over. Getting excited about the future makes
sense for eighteen-year-olds. Does it apply
when your best friend moves away, your
spouse dies, or you have been diagnosed
with a chronic condition? What does the
process of self-discovery look like then?
These life situations call for consciously
enlisting support. Loving, compassionate
support brings perspective. It creates a
sacred space where you realize you are not
alone. You gain a witness to your process.
The process actually happens when you
have support, rather than building up to
more and more toxic levels. We become
braver with support.
Clarifying who you are now requires bravery.
Before you think, “I’m not brave,” I’m going to
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