There was a time when I believed things brought me happiness.  I spent way too much money surrounding myself with objects. But no matter how much stuff I had, my heart was still heavy and I was unfulfilled.  One day I realized things could not ever give me satisfaction or heal the emotional holes in my heart. I realized that things often had the opposite effect.

I was stressed and in debt from buying too many things.  My house was cluttered and so I was distracted and felt emotionally drained being surrounded by so much stuff.

Something I did to improve my mood and sense of well-being was to clean out and maintain clean spaces. This was and remains especially important since I live in a world where collecting seems to be a widespread obsession.

Over the course of a few months I picked up every object in my home and asked myself how I was impacted by it. Some of the items stored unpleasant memories. Keeping them around made me uncomfortable. If I did not love it or need it, or it did not uplift my heart, I gave it away.

Taking an emotional inventory of my possessions shifted something inside me. Releasing many of my “things” created a beneficial change in some long-held patterns about what really mattered and made me content. Cleaning up my outer environment helped me clean up my inner environment.

This week, take an honest inventory of your surroundings.  Are your living spaces (home, office, car, garage, storage shed, attic, etc.) clean and neat?  Or are they an unorganized and cluttered mess?  If so, how does it feel to be surrounded by so much stuff?  What objects are truly precious and which ones hold bad memories? Clean out, give away, or sell anything that is not necessary or does not bring you deep emotional satisfaction. Maintaining clean spaces will help you discover the truth of the saying, “Less (distractions, negative energy, clutter) is more (peace, satisfaction, and fulfillment).”