Tag: decluttering

My life is a bit hectic at times. Okay, all the time. Somehow, so much gets done all day every day, but I also can’t seem to get enough done. Does that make sense? I would assume most of you know exactly how that feels. 

My life is like a drawer stuffed full of clothes that hasn’t been opened in so long, due to the overwhelming number of clothing items inside.

My life is like a kitchen drawer that collects everything. If you need a random piece of plastic all of a sudden that went to a decoration you forgot about but found, it’s probably in the drawer, along with anything else you might need.

My life is like the sky, full of light and sunshine, sometimes being able to see the path I should take and knowing what comes next. But the other half of the time, it’s unknowing what’s next, dark, and only lit by a few stars and the moon, where I don’t know what I should do in certain circumstances, or what challenges await me around each corner. 

My life is like a house full of little kids. It’s messy with toys thrown everywhere and markers all over the walls, but it’s also always full of laughter, smiles, the desire to learn, to mature, and to gain understanding of why things are the way they are. 

Do I Ever Feel Overwhelmed in my Life?

These are all very accurate to how my life goes the majority of the time. I feel like I have so much to do all the time, and some days I accomplish everything on my ‘To Do’ list, while other days my list never seems to end, and I don’t feel successful at anything. These days will come and go, no matter what, as it’s part of life, but with that being said, there are things I can do that help me in ‘Decluttering My Life One Drawer at a Time.’ 

What Do I Do to Start Decluttering My Life?

The first thing that I do to help me declutter the messiness and chaoticness of life is to seek optimistic thinking. Optimism is defined as hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something. This means seeking those positive thoughts and feelings about something, someone, or some event in the future. Why dwell on the past when you can be optimistic about the future? The future is as good as you want it to be. That doesn’t mean there won’t be sad, or bad things that happen in the world, or even to you or someone you know, but it does mean you get the chance to choose how you will react to those things, and hopefully, you choose to react with an optimistic viewpoint. 

It’s hard, but for the most part, happiness and positivity come easily for me compared to others. There was a time in my life when I wasn’t the nicest person; I was mean to my siblings, my parents, and my friends. I didn’t find joy in anyone or most things. As I have grown older, and I’ve gotten to experience heartbreak, loss, forgiveness, repentance, and the acceptance of love and trust from those around me, I have been able to seek out the joy I was missing out on. I don’t know the exact date as to when my mindset or heart switched gears to being more loving, kind, and overall a positive person, but I think it was the end of my Freshman year of High School, and the beginning of Sophomore year. 

How Did I Become a Kind Person? 

Some back story, I was in the middle of my Freshman year, and my parents told me we were moving. It was extremely heart-wrenching for me. I had good friends and good opportunities involving choirs, and the musical theatre groups I was part of. I was going to have to abandon everything I knew and start all over somewhere unknown to myself. My parents were extremely generous in the fact that they allowed me to stay and finish off my freshman year, so long as I stayed with my grandparents. 

That wasn’t an issue for me, I had the typical teenage “I don’t care” attitude, and though I was a bit sad to not be with my family, I was more upset that I was going to have to leave the only town I knew. As the school year continued, I slowly started to realize that my time in my hometown was coming to a close. I felt I had a bigger purpose I needed to fulfill in this new location, my family had moved to.

Fast forward to Sophomore year of High School. I had no friends, nobody knew of my talents or interests outside my family, and I was trying to fit in with anyone who would accept me. One day, I was asked if I wanted to sit with someone and their friends during lunch one day, and eventually that led me to my friends I ended up being blessed to have in my High School career. I have a strong desire to feel like I belong. In anything and everything that I do. Thankfully, God knows that, and knew that what I needed to be successful in my life was to have a friend. 

Soon after that, the Seminary for the religion I am part of started up, and I was able to grow my faith so much that I didn’t feel like I needed or wanted to be mean anymore. I wanted to change, I wanted to be better, to be more kind, and to show everyone, no matter who they were or what they did, that I would love them as God did. I made a promise to myself that I would try my hardest to live up to the standard I had set for myself, and so far, I have continued to love everyone, even if they have hurt me in some way or another. Everyone is deserving of love, and I want that to always be something that anyone can expect to get from me. 

So, in short. Think optimistically, because life is too short to dwell on the negatives, the stress of the world, and the unknown, to not enjoy it. Life will throw you curveballs, but it’s completely your choice whether or not you let it fly past you and think negative thoughts, or you catch that ball and choose to see the positive ones instead.

How Can My Life Improve If I Take Everything Step by Step?

My second thing I do to declutter my life is to take things step by step, or in this case, one drawer at a time. Oftentimes I want to get everything done asap, so that I don’t have to worry about it tomorrow, but sadly, that’s not the way life works, at least for me. For instance, on my daily list, I have to do the dishes, put away clean laundry, start a new load of laundry if needed, vacuum the floors, sweep, mop, and wipe down the table/counter tops. 

I get to do the dishes pretty much every day, otherwise, we wouldn’t have dishes to eat on, but other than that, I don’t always do everything completely the way I’d like to. I may only put some clothes away, or I may only get to vacuuming one room. Progress is progress, no matter how far, which is why I’m trying my best to take it one drawer at a time.

Decluttering means removing unnecessary items from an untidy or overcrowded place. I’m working on my life every single moment of my life. I’m working to be a better mom, a better wife, and an individual daily. If this means that I don’t get to every single item to be more present with my family, so be it. If it means I can’t clean up that popcorn off the floor right away because the baby is crying, it’s not going anywhere, I’ll get to it eventually.

How Can Prioritizing Help Me Maintain a Better Lifestyle?

Prioritizing what needs to be done is my third step in decluttering my life. Making sure that my family comes first is my priority. You’ve heard the saying, “I now understand why Papa Bear’s food was too hot, Baby Bear’s food was just right, and Mama Bear’s food was too cold.” If you haven’t until now, let me explain it to you. Papa Bear’s food is too hot because he gets it right away. Baby Bear’s food is just right, because the parent or Mother in this situation makes sure the baby’s food is the perfect temperature so as not to hurt or unsatisfy the baby. Lastly, the Mama Bear’s food is too cold… Why, you may ask? 

Because she spent so much time caring for everyone else, making sure everyone else had food that she fed herself last, making her food go cold. This is me, I am Mama Bear. My Husband and my children come first before me. I need to be healthy and physically taken care of to nurture and care for them, but first and foremost, they come first. 

How Does My Faith Affect My Life?

Another thing that I prioritize to help me in redesigning and decluttering my life is my faith. This is not exactly where I want it to be yet, but I’m actively working on it. I have a strong belief in God, and my testimony of the Gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I prioritize my faith by choosing to teach my children in the way that Jesus would, loving myself along with others, putting family first, and keeping the promises that I have made with God, with my Husband, and with myself. 

Decluttering my life one drawer at a time may look different for you than it does for me, and that’s completely okay! There will be times in your life that you feel you can’t keep up with all the responsibilities and to-dos, but there will also be times when you feel successful, accomplished, and complete the daily tasks you had on your to-do list. Whether you are working through that one drawer in your kitchen, or working through the drawer full of clothes in your room. It is all possible through optimism, taking things step by step, and prioritizing your priorities. 

“Clutter is not just the stuff on the floor, it’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living.”

McKenna Sanders

The Mom, Wife, Dream Life Blog

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