Like some kind of obsessive hoarder, we store the pain from our past like junk in a walk-in closet. Piled to the ceiling, barely hanging onto shelves, we can hardly hold back our trash behind the closed door, and sometimes, it falls out and makes an epic mess all over our lives. Yet, we pick it all back up and shove it back into the closet.
Every time we open our closets, we are being reminded of the mistakes we made, the unwanted gifts from others we were given and the painful memories that each item represented. As we gaze over the life-sucking junk that is collecting dust waiting for our decision to keep it or throw it out, we feel sick to our stomachs that we allowed it to get this far.
The problem is, like all stored junk, the pain just accumulates more pain. The piles of pain we keep guarded in our closets eventually makes it out into the hallway, then our main living spaces until ultimately, we can no longer live without tripping and falling over our junk pile of pain.
We know that the pain is junk and most of us realize that someday we will have to sort it all out and throw it away. But like all undesired chores, we put it off. Instead of clearing it out, we procrastinate and put it off until tomorrow, then that tomorrow becomes next week, then that becomes next month until at some point we convince ourselves that maybe, just maybe, this junk will come in handy someday. We should keep it around! It’s just too hard to clear out.
Declutter your life!
Start off small and take it slow. Just open the closet once in awhile and remove a small fear. Keep eliminating small worries until you get to the more significant ones. Remember to wash up along the way by treating your body to exercise and a proper diet. Refrain from adding more junk by resisting movement and running to junk food to satisfy your newly found empty space. Instead, fill it with a resolve to never go back.
When you start throwing away the smaller pieces of pain, you will notice a momentum forms and your comfort level in throwing more junk away will rise. Keep at it, live a life free of junk from your past. Start off small, take it slow and move forward. Soon, your closet will be tidy, and the junk from your past will be long from your memory.
X-XC