DrDeClutterBlog.com

Do you have “gut” reactions to things, and then later find out that you “should have” paid attention to them? Do you feel psychic or intuitive once in a while and are then surprised that you’re right?

                                 “Trust your hunches. They’re usually based
                            on facts filed away just below the conscious level.”
                                                       - Dr. Joyce Brothers

Maybe it’s time to take those hunches and feelings seriously and organize your subconscious filing system!

Our conscious mind can only hold upfront in the top file drawer, or on the mental desktop a few things at a time. Have you ever seen a photo from your childhood or even a year ago of something you did and said, “Oh, I remember that!” But, you don’t remember it all of the time, just when you see something that triggers that file drawer to open and remind you. We’d literally go insane if we actually could remember and think of everything we’ve ever known, done, heard, learned or noticed all at the same time and all of the time.

In order to tap into and open those files of good stuff that you want to use and retrieve that are just below the conscious level, it’s important to use the keys that work.

Key: Focus on things that really interest you and ask yourself what you “already know” that could support your interests or ideas further.

Key: STOP! Being quiet isn’t a norm for the western culture. We’re all about running, driving, racing and talking with cell phone, TV, radio, computer, iPod and other activities going non-stop to distract us from our internal, overflowing file systems.

If you want to be more intuitive, have more good hunches and learn to trust them more often, slow down. Shut off the TV. Stop the emails and Internet surfing that is unnecessary (you know when that is too!!). PUT THE REMOTE DOWN AND WALK AWAY!!! … take time to go on quiet walks in nature or meditate on your favorite chair. Paint, draw, play musical instruments. Make the time for activities that slow your mind down so that the files of facts just waiting to surface have the open space through which to rise and be heard! Life has a very different flow to it when we open and use these file systems! And, have fun!

A wonderful CD that I use to support slowing down and listening within is Healthful Relaxation. Click here to get your copy.

“When we have our body and mind in order, everything else will exist in the right place,  in the right way. But usually, without being aware of it, we try to change something other than ourselves; we try to order things outside us. But it is impossible to organize things if you yourself are not in order. When you do things in the right way, at the right time, everything else will be organized.”
                                          ~ Shunryu Suzuki, Japanese Zen Master

However you grew up, however you were programmed and patterned as a child — in your “formative” years (by the age of 7) – has literally “formed” your life, your years to date of beliefs, thoughts and life perceptions that you believe are “normal!”

They are “normal” to you, but not to everyone else.

If you are not happy and at peace in your life it is a sign that you are yearning to consciously create “new normals.”

CREATING NEW NORMALS: HOW TO START
Take out a piece of paper and start writing a list of what you DON’T WANT in your life experience.

Then, write a list of what you DO WANT.

It’s important to know what you DON’T WANT in order to move them aside to bring in your new, fresh and joyfilled WANTS and DESIRES.

As you write down your WANTS, you might notice all kinds of what I call “red monkeys and hitchhikers” showing up in your head telling you that you can’t have them. That’s “normal.” Keep writing anyway and identifying where these limiting ideas and learned beliefs from others came from and how they are not true for you today. Know that it’s alright for you to move past them, to move towards what you WANT and allow in what you WANT that will expand your life in much more positive ways.

PRACTICE. PRACTICE. PRACTICE.
To make this process “stick” you must commit to doing it daily, like exercise to change your body. You are not only changing “your mind” about yourself, you are literally “changing your BRAIN/MIND” and its electric neuropathways that have kept you on the old road all these years. It will take a while to reprogram those pathways. Don’t stop!

                                              “No one can create in your experience,
                               for no one can control where you direct your thought.
                                    On the path to your happiness you will discover
                                                   all you want to be, do, or have.”
                                                                 ~ Abraham-Hicks

Suggested movies:

- What the Bleep Do We Know?

- Last Holiday, with Queen Latifah

- Joe vs. The Volcano and You’ve Got Mail, with Tom Hanks

- City Slickers, with Billy Crystal

To be a conscious creator we need to be aware of our intentions, attentions and actions. The key here is starting to think, know, believe, intend and act upon what you WANT, not what you DON'T WANT.Our minds naturally go for the negative, the don't want. "I don't want to gain weight!" Instead of , "I want to stay at the weight I am." Or, better yet, "I love being the weight I am and will do what it takes to stay here!"Being proactive is paramount in setting your New Year's Goals and Intentions. Set your DO WANTS now!

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year.

It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose;

new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes.

Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions.

Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.”
 ~ G.K. Chesterton

I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the year’s. 
~ Henry Moore

Get out your colored pens and pencils and make your first or your fiftieth end-of-year gratitude list!

Never done one before? Great time to start!

It’s just too easy to let another year slide by and forget all of the good that has come into our lives, and all the good that we’ve done. Making daily gratitude lists are a good place to review and find the nuggets that you want to include.

This is a great exercise in remembering all the good in life, in your life, and even better, to take this good feeling into your new next year!

Make the time to sit and reflect over 2009 and be grateful, thankful, appreciative and kindhearted to yourself and your life experiences.

The good you get out of this will also be very helpful as you decide who you want to be for the next 365 days!

Losses throughout the year of any kind, human, animal, health, wealth or of spirit can take an extra toll during the holiday weeks. Here are a few steps to take care of yourself during this time.

1. Make time to grieve.

Set aside time to really feel your feelings, cry your tears and let it all go where it needs to. Your body needs to mourn your loss or change all the way through.

2. Get support from others.

It’s not always easy to ask for help. Being “strong” isn’t smart. Being “human” is. Whether you talk to family or friends or see a counselor or minister, you will find layers of grief just waiting to spring forth when you talk to someone else and tell your story once more.

3. Develop skills that help you remember you are a worthwhile person.

You can let grief control you and fall into a deep depression or illness, chipping away at your self worth; you can ignore and deny it and stay busy, keeping your “mind off of it”; or, you can gain knowledge of how to embrace your pain and grow positively from it.

4. Create a physical environment that supports rather than stresses you.

During the mourning process stress levels increase. You need to create a space where you feel safe, comfortable, quiet when you need it and nurtured, even if only by yourself.

5. Take care of yourself.

There are physical as well as emotional aspects of grief. Exercise increases your strength and stamina and reduces your stress. Healthy eating gives your body the good nourishment it needs. Find quiet time. Schedule a massage to stay connected with your body.

Bottom line, grief is hard. Make sure to take the time to face it and deal with it, otherwise it will affect you for years to come.

Yes, Virginia, there is a You-a-Claus!

It turns out money can buy happiness! What’s the catch? You have to spend it on others!

The University of British Columbia’s Elizabeth Dunn, Ph.D., led a survey of 632 American to find out just how true this is. She found, “We’re significantly happier when spending pro-socially” — on gifts or charity.

The amount of money isn’t even an issue, it’s just the giving it to and for others that makes the difference.

BONUS! Dunn says that the good feeling we get from this altruistic act can last 6 to 8 weeks! Much longer than your new sox or vacation!

So, when you’re returning Christmas gifts this week, think about the money you’re getting back in cash or gift cards. Maybe, instead of rebuying something for yourself, that you may not need anyway, put that money toward your favorite charity or cause. Remember, you’ll get 6-8 weeks of glow from it!

Oh, what does this have to do with the Law of Attraction? Like attracts life. Sooo, if you’re giving money and goodness, and feeeeeling it for weeks, you’ll attract “like!” I “like” that!

You may know the Bible story about Lot’s wife. God told her not to look back on her village and “past” life or she’d turn to a pillar of salt. Well, she looked back.

Every time your attention is distracted into the past you turn to a pillar of salt. Your thoughts and attention literally “crystallize” (like rock salt) into “what was,” not “what IS.” You get stuck in old stories and memories; mental movies unable to stay HERE NOW, open to your PRESENT and move forward.

Most people today are walking, talking pillars of salt. Filled with thoughts, looping memories of regret, remorse, sadness, grief… how do you do this? Do you have items in your home, in your life, or stories that you tell that make you constantly “look back” to your past?

Look around your house right now. What photo’s, greeting cards, knick-knacks, letters, emails, articles of clothing, jewelry, books, gifts, etc. drag your attention into the past? Moreover, into a negative past filled with, “Why me?”, “Why them?”, “Should have’s,” etc.

You can’t open your PRESENT in the PAST! Stay present in your present. Open your present NOW, in the PRESENT!

                                     “Whatever the price, identify it now.
             What will you have to go through to get where you want to be?
      There is a price you can pay to be free of the situation once and for all.
               It may be a fantastic price or a tiny one — but there is a price.”
                  ~ Harry Browne, 1933-, American Financial Advisor, Writer

LEARN THE LESSONS, LET GO, LIVE YOUR LIFE – YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION
Life is about learning from our past and living in the NOW, creating plans for a better FUTURE. It’s time to LET GO (maybe, with all your might!) of whatever is not true for you anymore.

Will “letting go” be easy? Some will, some will not. But decluttering and reclaiming your space for your HERE and NOW “conscious” life is a very important decision and act to do for yourself – it’s in fact a very selfish act… good for you! Reclaim your home and environment as yours.

Grieve your grief, resolve your areas/emotions incomplete and move on, no matter what it was (“was” is the operative word here.) Reset your energy for TODAY and your wonderful FUTURE. LET GO of anything, anyone, any thought, any statements and old stories that keeps dragging you backwards.

                                                 “The world is a great mirror.
                                          It reflects back to you what you are.
                          If you are loving, if you are friendly, if you are helpful,
                      The world will prove loving and friendly and helpful to you.
                                                 The world is what you are.”
                                                          ~ Thomas Dreier

GRIEF & DEPRESSION
Upon meeting a person I can pick up if they’re in grief or depression, and I certainly know upon just a few steps into a house if a person is still stuck in their past. I have worked with clients to declutter their outer stuff only to walk, sit and talk about their “inner” stuff – emotions, fears, frustrations, stuck places. Your outer world is a manifestation of your inner world. Start with either. Clean up one and the other will “shift.”

So, look at everything you have and if you get a twinge of remorse, grief, negative longing, sadness, etc., pack it away in storage (some are family heirlooms, etc.) or get rid of it. You can’t have joy and pain the in the same place at the same time. Choose one or the other: why wouldn’t you choose joy?!

YOU DESERVE THE BEST LIFE, EVERYONE DOES

National Tie One On Day™ celebrates the humble apron and the spirit of women of earlier generations who donned the universal symbol of home, family and mothering as the uniform of their daily wardrobe and helped make America the great country it is today.

On the day before Thanksgiving, EllynAnne encourages us to pause in the preparation of our own meal, wrap a loaf of bread in an apron, tuck a prayer or note of encouragement in the pocket, and tie one on…an apron, of course!, and deliver the wrapped bundle to someone in need of spiritual or physical sustenance.

According to EllynAnne, no matter which way you turn out of your own front door, someone who is deserving of a hug is very close by. “Women clad in aprons have traditionally prepared the Thanksgiving meal,” says EllynAnne, “and it is within our historical linkage to share our bounty.”
http://www.apronmemories.com/news/tie-one-on-day.html 

Are you too old to be messing around, playing and having too much fun?

NEVER!!

Make sure to have fun on vacation, on holiday, down the street and in your back yard! People who play and laugh more are healthier, friendlier and live longer!

Here’s my friend Jan up in Rochester, MN. She’s sitting pretty in a really big chair on display in front of a store. Jan is going to be a grandma again pretty soon! Go grandma!

“We are driven by five genetic needs:
survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun.”
~ William Glasser, M.D.,  American psychiatrist
The developer of reality therapy and choice theory

Life’s short! Organize around fun!

No matter your age, play today! Take a photo and share your fun in the sun!