Focus on what you want

I found this quote on the Tiny Buddha site,

“Turn your focus from something don’t want to something you do want. This allows you to shift your energy from complaining to taking action.”

This suggestion can apply in many areas of our lives and especially when it comes to dealing with clutter.

Stop getting caught in the endless and berating stories of
My house is such a disaster,
I’m so disorganized,
the kid’s rooms are a mess.
By focusing on:
Find my keys when I need them,
sit at the table and have dinner as a family,
have the kid’s rooms be reasonably tidy;
we begin to articulate what it is we do want.

Stop using your thoughts and energy to complain,
and start taking action.

Bemoaning your lack of organization isn’t helpful-to you or the situation. 

Designating a specific place for your keys to live and
putting them there every time you come home,
is a positive action, and good use of your energy.

Setting up a place to deal with the mail,
instead of piling it on the table,
is a specific action that will leave the table clear for family dining.

Spending ten minutes before bed helping your kids put away their toys is an action that will lead to their rooms being reasonably tidy.

Choose one spot in our house that you feel is ‘cluttered’.
Focus on three things you could do,
actions you could take that would clear the space.

Small, easy actions: Toss a paper into recycle,
take something to the other room where it has a home,
throw something away. 

Focus on what you do want.
End the complaining and take some active steps.

Abundance or excess?

Abundance is different than excess.

Sharing in warm loving relationships is abundance.
Having subscriptions to five magazines you never read is excess.

Choosing to spend time on activities that feed your head and heart is abundance.

Holding on to equipment and supplies for hobbies that no longer interest or delight you is excess.

Choosing quality over quantity is abundance.
Purchasing duplicates of items you already own, but can’t find, is excess.

Knowing your limits creates abundance.
Ignoring your physical, financial, and emotional situation leads to excess.

Abundance lives in your heart.
Excess dominates your surroundings.

By letting go of the excess you choose abundance.