Tossing out clutter liberates the mind and spirit

Why do we torture ourselves with our clutter? You know exactly what I am talking about.

We have piles everywhere. Stuff we are going to need one day and we might not be able to afford it then. So we had better hold on to it. Do you hear this "oh, poor me" attitude?

This stuff is going to kill you. Are you listening to me? All the piles of clutter are filling your life with guilt and this guilt is hurting your body and spirit. The stress that is in our lives from our clutter, our chaotic homes, and our hectic lives is slowing and painfully killing us. Are you prepared to die this tortured death? Do you want to sit on the side lines while your husband and children enjoy life without you, while you sit home and suffer with this clutter draining your life energy.

This clutter pushes your family away. Your home should be a safe haven for you and your family, but when it is cluttered all of you find ways to be away from home. You dread walking in the door to face this wall of stuff and undone jobs. Let's face it, it is guilt. So you enroll your children in extra activities, anything to get away from this guilt that surrounds you at home. With our lives filled with this clutter, we are unable to have anyone over.

You all know the C.H.A.O.S. (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). This pushes the people we love away. It also keeps us from taking care of things we need to have fixed. Leaky faucets, heating problems and stopped-up drains. We are ashamed to have anyone in the house to fix them because of our clutter. I knew one person who would not call an ambulance because she was too afraid that if they saw her mess, that they would report it to Department of Social Services and they would take her children.

What are we doing to our children? They are growing up in a home that they are unable to have their friends over to play and do school work. They don't want anyone to see how they live. They are embarrassed by their home. Do you know what happens? They end up playing at someone else's home and you won't be fully aware of their activities or even worse you keep them secluded in their own home. You are keeping secrets, and these cluttered secrets are going to be the death of you and your family.

Now let's look at our marriages. We have insulated our lives from the love that we need to survive. The clutter puts stress on our marriage. I don't care how strong your love is, clutter, whether it is your husband's or yours, is stealing the affection you have for one another. Fights, harsh words and even abandonment have slipped into this once-loving relationship. Do you want this? Are you ready for peace?