"You can choose courage, or you can choose comfort, but you cannot have both. Not at the same time." ~Brené Brown
If you let it, Lent can be a time of clearing out, cleaning out, and new beginnings. Look around your environments (home, office, car, etc.) and see what needs some clearing out. How much of what is in those areas are you not using, that’s just filling space? How much of what is in those spaces could you use, but you don’t?
Find one or two things today and clean them out. Give what you don’t need away, and discern what you can use more before getting more of it.
I have a few junk drawers I could dump out, and my garage … yikes. What do you have? Don’t try to tackle it all. Just do one thing at a time. And while you are decluttering, think a little bit about how you can also make some space in your mind. What is “living rent free” in your brain, causing worry or fear? Write it down. Writing it down can be like dumping out the drawer. The physical act of writing is as powerful as taking a bag of junk to the curb. Then, determine what is useful. Some things that are living there might be things you are putting off. Did you know that procrastination is a coping mechanism? We procrastinate a task because we don't want to feel the feelings that come along with the task: stress, fear, discipline, pain, memories, feeling not good enough. Your work can be to recognize the procrastination (write it down if you can) and then try to determine the feeling associated with it. Is the feeling something you can work through? Can you tackle the task one step at a time? Small steps can eventually banish the procrastination, helping you clear more space in your thoughts and in your life for what is most important.
Fridays are fasting days during Lent for many, so perhaps on Fridays, we commit to fasting from the clutter, the chaos, and clean our spaces so we have room for what we can use best. Commit to clearing, even in small bites, instead of just walking away and putting it off.
Ask for help. From God, from your friends, your family.
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