Lighten your load

A great way of adding new energy to your life is by ridding yourself of the clutter that continually drains your energy. One kind of clutter is physical clutter. In a cluttered environment, you spend much of your time moving things out of the way, or looking through the pile for what you need, and that takes away from the time available to actually get things accomplished. Getting rid of the clutter can bring plenty of new energy to your life. Clean out your desk, your file cabinet, your closets, your garage, your attic, your computer’s hard drive, your shelves, your kitchen cabinets, your glove compartment — all those places where useless and burdensome things accumulate. If you haven’t used something in the last year or two, chances are very good that you won’t ever need it again. Unburden yourself by giving away, putting away, throwing away and organizing all the artifacts that clutter your existence. The neat, orderly environment you create will bring added energy to your life.

Another kind of clutter is emotional clutter. Every moment of every day you drag around a collection of old, worn-out feelings, many of them caused by things that happened a long time ago. Just think how energized you would be if you could let them go. The good news is that you can indeed let them go. They are your feelings, and you can do what you want with them. If they no longer serve you, if they are holding you back, then it’s time to consider throwing them out. What’s a good way to do that?

Sit still and calm your mind. Then bring up the feeling. Acknowledge it. Wrap your awareness around it. Experience it fully. Then realize that it is something you have chosen to hold and maintain. It is not an integral part of you. Visualize that you are holding the feeling in your hand. Then, when you are ready, imagine dropping it to the floor. Let go of it and allow it to fall away from you. If it ever should come back, go through the same exercise. Soon you will be completely free of it, as the power of your intention to let it go overwhelms the original feeling. Let go of those old, heavy feelings that hold you back, and you’ll bring new energy to each moment.