It's time to trade that clutter for a little peace

You know that dreaded phone call when your mother-in-law is on her way to see the babies. Do you catch yourself running through the house trying to pick up as fast as you can? We call this a "Stash and Dash."

Where do you end up putting all of the bags, baskets and boxes of stuff you have collected? Do you throw it in your bedroom, slam the door behind you and just dare anyone to open it? This has got to stop!

Your bedroom should not be a graveyard for stuff that has no home!

This is the room that is the heart of your family and your marriage. If you are single, it is where you snuggle in for the evening with a good book to fall asleep. This is the room that you wake up in and go to sleep in. It is imperative that this room be the cleanest in the house. From this moment on, you are not allowed to pile stuff in this room. Do not fold clothes in this room. (We all know what happens there; we fold them but never put them away.)

I have counseled many women about this room. I have found over the years that when this room gets clean the rest of the house falls right into place. It becomes a haven from the chaos in the home; your hiding place.

I have also found that when this room is clean; I mean no clutter piled up, that most women rest better and have more energy. I also feel that when we are sick, this room can promote healing or keep us sick. When all that clutter is everywhere, it is so hard to feel peace and calm. Clutter lays guilt on our heads, we beat ourselves up about it, and we make ourselves sick with the stress it puts on our system.

Get rid of the clutter and you will see the veil of stress, and I believe you will start to feel better. Guilt is a terrible shadow to live under.

So many women have never felt peace. This is my main wish for you: to find the peace I have. Stress is the main cause for illness in our country and the world. If we relieve the stress we will all be better off.

We have all heard that love of money is the root of evil. Well, I have a new twist on this. Clutter is the root of illness: Physical and mental. It is a vicious cycle. The more clutter we have the sicker we get and the less we want to pick up and put away. Then the less we pick up the more clutter we have and the sicker we get. It is time to quit giving clutter control and nip this in the bud. Start putting things away when you have finished with them. At least stuff will quit piling up.