What dust balls of behavior are lurking in your life? Are you bothered by bad habits, old ways of thinking, or the simple inertia that makes life less sparkling than it could be? Spring is not only a good time to freshen up the house, its a great time to take a critical, yet compassionate look at your life and decide what needs to go, get dusted off or replaced for a better daily existence.
Sweep out the old. We all have useless litter in our lives. This might be a bad habit youve been meaning to get rid of. It could be a negative personality trait youd like to change for the better. It could be a draining relationship. Sometimes we get so used to being a certain way that we lose sight of our ability to actively scrape the negative from our life.
Life cleaning solution: Once a year, do a life review. Write down the less-than-attractive aspects of your life. Then think of at least one action that would move you toward reducing or eliminating any unnecessary mustiness. For instance, if you always scream and curse at other drivers (alone and/or with other people in your car), find a mantra that reminds you to be more patient such as: Theyre doing the best they can, or Their agenda is just as important as mine. You could also replace a negative action with a positive action that helps someone else. When we focus on helping others our best self almost always shows.
Air out your attitude. Cynicism, fear, self-sabotage, pessimism, denial, envy these can take the shine out of any life. Also, its easy to give too much attention to the difficult aspects of our personality and our life. Consider where your attitude might fall on a negative to positive meter. A little self-awareness is the first thing required to enliven a virtual fresh breeze. Recognition followed by intention and action will help reveal the natural vividness and confidence buried under an encrusted attitude.
Life cleaning solution. Find inspirational quotes and post them to remind you of a desirable state of mind. Or make a list of all the positive benefits of a renewed point-of-view. For instance, acting more friendly toward people you encounter each day would potentially gain you new friends, make you more attractive to others, and draw positive people into your circle of acquaintances, to name a few potential benefits.
Get organized. Sometimes our lives get messy not so much from negativity as from inertia. Inertia results in half-done tasks littering our mind and never-ending to-do lists. Inertia lets many good intentions go moldy.
Life cleaning solution . Prioritize the elements of your life. Consider what is most important: career, family, friends, health and fitness, a romantic relationship, travel or a special interest/hobby? List the desired elements of your life in order of importance. Each day take five minutes to review how your schedule aligns with your priority list. Is there something that you spend time on that is not really a priority, and takes up too much time? Name a step you could take that would change that. Enlist the people who have an effect on your daily organization and schedule for help. Be creative with solutions. Offer to swap child-watching duties with a friend each week so you both get some me time. Negotiate with your boss for a later arrival/departure time one day a week so you can go to the gym.
Life starts fresh each day. So make sure that youre not trailing along yesterdays trash.
Copyright 2006 Melissa Wadsworth |
