What’s the story behind the piles of ‘things’ that we keep?

For years I have struggled with looking at piles of things; they just seem to stress me out and it feels like they are somehow hanging over my mind, leading to an overwhelming feeling of stress. I have had the mantra for years that clutter is chaos and chaos is stress; who needs more stress, so lets get rid of the clutter so the chaos is gone leading to less stress. It makes perfect sense to me but maybe not to everyone. I haven’t always held this view; as a kid I was a child version of Oscar Madison from the Odd Couple. For those too young to know who that is, Google or YouTube it and you will understand the reference. I always had food under my bed; you know, in case I got hungry during the night. I didn’t understand that the food would draw crawly things that I don’t like. Anyway, I always had clothes and whatever all over the floor and stuffed in the closet. You have to understand that between my sister’s and my room was one long closet that stretched the full length of our rooms and was about three feet wide. We could stuff lots of things into that closet and usually did; that is until we had to clean it. That was a chore and a half; however, when it was clean we had lots of fun playing in the closet, running from one room to the other. All this to say, I understand how spaces can get so full of ‘stuff’ that we get overwhelmed by it; and forget about trying to get started with cleaning it, to start that task is as huge as eating an elephant in one bite.

Somewhere in my teens I turned the corner and went from Oscar Madison to Felix Unger; same show but the other half of the Odd Couple. Felix was the super neat freak that probably sanitized the vacuum cleaner. I became the person that cleaned and changed her room around every Friday evening. I had a good friend that thought it great fun to move the T.V. Guide or Kleenex box on the coffee table so that she could watch me put it back into ‘it’s spot.’ I know, from one extreme to the other, exactly right. This neat freakness followed me into adulthood and into my own home. Of course having kiddos kind of helped me to loosen up a lot on the neat freakness; after several years of stressing over those crazy toys all over the floor all the time. I about drove myself crazy constantly picking up toys. That is until I decided to just wait until the kiddos were down for their naps or to bed for the night, to pick up the toys. And don’t get me started on being married to a wonderful man who’s a mechanic, trying to keep things free of grease and grime from the shop; it’s definitely a full time job, okay maybe just a part time job, but you get the point I’m sure.

So, is it Oscar who has it right or is it Felix? Do we have so much ‘stuff’ surrounding us that we don’t even know what we have anymore or do we have things so cleaned and clutter free that we could literally eat off the floor (YUCK); but you know what I mean. I think that in this issue; as with about everything in life, we need to find a happy medium, not just for our mental health but also for our physical and spiritual health. What does this have to do with our physical and spiritual health? I am so glad that you asked. Our physical health can be impacted by a house full of clutter because of the germ factor; but also because of the psychological and spiritual reasons for the collection of the ‘stuff’ which then can lead to physical symptoms of poor health. Spiritually, the ‘stuff’ can become an idol and take the place of God in our heart. There’s so much more to this that I can’t share without writing a book. Instead of focusing on all the stuff, let’s look at why we collect those ‘priceless’ gems. What hole are we trying to fill? Did our parents collect things? When did we start collecting the _____? What was going on in our life? Why do we have to have every one of the collection of the _______? What does having all of those_____ get us in the end? Does it make our life fuller? Happier? Free-er? How does having all these ‘things’ impact our next generation and the generation after that?

So, now what?

First steps: take one space; whether it be a drawer, closet, or cupboard, and clean it all out. Sort what’s in the space into one of three boxes/totes; 1. I really want to keep, it has a purpose. 2. I will give away, it has no real purpose for me. 3. I will throw away, it’s not useful to anyone.

Second step: journal about how you felt when you were done with that small space, what you will clean/sort next, and when you will do it.

Third step: clean and sort your next space the same as you did the first space. Make sure to keep journaling about your progress.

Fourth step: Know that I am proud of you for each and every step that you take forward; more importantly, know that your Heavenly Father is smiling upon you as you become free of the hold that your ‘stuff’ has on your life. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, live free of the stress of the chaos.