When I was 27 I lived and travelled around Europe and for a period of over nine months I didn’t sleep in the same bed for more than 3 consecutive days. My life was packed into two suitcases and the reality was I could pick up and move my life with a few minutes’ notice.
Not anymore!
In the eight years we have lived in Calgary, every one of our friends have moved house – all into larger and sometimes newer homes. We still dwell in the two-bedroom, 987 sqft bungalow we moved into shortly after marrying. In those days we were a couple. Now we cram our three kids into the master bedroom and we sleep in the second bedroom.
It’s not that we haven’t been able to afford something larger; it has been a conscious choice to live where we do. Though we’ve made it this long in our little house, we are not sure that will last much longer. At some point we want our children to each have their own bedroom.
One of the positive aspects of living in a small house has been that we have been forced to keep purging our stuff. Every few months we go through areas of the house and discard and donate stuff we’re not using anymore. Indeed, one of the things we’ve found with our friends living in larger homes, is they have more stuff to fill it. Perhaps that’s causing the never-ending societal race to live in a larger home.
To differing degrees, we all fill our lives with meaningless clutter, both physical and mental. We attach false meaning to this clutter and it holds us back. Some deal with the clutter better than others, which basically means that some people can discard the clutter and eliminate the baggage more easily than others.
Take stock of your life. Look at what’s holding you back. Look at the physical or mental clutter that’s in your way. Create a plan to eliminate the barriers and follow the plan. That’s the most important part… Take action!
Today being January 7th is a perfect day to set some goals. , look at life and decide which clutter can be discarded and by starting with baby steps anything can be accomplished.
