Spring Cleaning

What is it about spring that brings out the urge to clean? Even nature seems to be involved. The birds are busy building new nests, the bunnies seem to be dusty out their dens, the rains freshen up the skies and land, and the trees are sporting fresh, new, shiny leaves. Even the hillsides are being redecorated with colorful flowers of every color that reminds me of a new spring dress.

It is a good time to start brushing out the cobwebs and the dust of winter and make way for the long, warm days of summer. Springtime is the in-between time when it’s not yet hot and it’s not quite as cold as it was. You can’t really go sit under the tree in a hammock yet but the flowering trees bring new life into your heart and home.

Now’s the time to clean the carpets, wash the windows, pack away some of the winter things and start longing for the days when you can wear those summer things you packed away last fall. As you look around, there are so many projects! Where does one begin? There’s the car, the garage, the closets, the paperwork, the kitchen, not to mention the yard!

In the midst of all of our spring-cleaning, it’s a good idea to see if there is some internal cleaning that needs to be done. Start with your body. Are you due for a check-up? Need to lose a little weight and walk a bit more?

Then there are your emotions. Packing around any unhelpful, worn out feelings of anger, bitterness, jealousy, resentment, or annoyance? How about your mind? Have any habitual thought patterns that need to change? Negative self-talk is one that could definitely be thrown into the trash heap. What about judgmental attitudes—the ones towards others and towards your self?

Many people believe that they cannot change the way they feel or the way they think. “That’s just the way I am”, is what they will tell you. A more accurate way to say this would be, “This is the way I want to stay.” If a way of thinking is no longer serving us, we are free to choose a new way of thinking. The problem we struggle with is in believing that we have no control over this.

The same thing is true with our emotions. If we are controlled by an emotion, it becomes detrimental to us because it uses up so much of our energy. Choosing to deal with emotions in a pro-active way will be empowering because we will not be tossed around by emotions that hold us captive.

Then there is your soul. Your soul cleaning is about your character development. Are you being true to your calling in life? Have you gotten off track or are you unclear about why you’re even here? Are you struggling with an addiction to something that holds you captive—work, shopping, worry, sex, power, money, control?

Our soul needs attention and assistance from Spirit. We need to communicate regularly with God in order to be true to our calling in life and in order to fulfill the reasons we are here in the first place. One of the things that interferes with taking care of our spiritual needs is busy-ness. We get so busy doing important things that we forget the most important thing of all—the care of our soul.

Maybe you need to clean out some of the busy-ness in your life in order to make time to tend to your soul. Look through the hours of your day and see what might need to be tossed out in order to free up some space in your life (time). I have a feeling, that no matter how busy you are there is something that could go.

It’s funny how we get so attached to our stuff. We will hang onto old shirts, broken picture frames, worn out lawn furniture, duplicate tools, kitchen trash (200 used butter dishes), clothes that no longer fit, expired food, papers that we no longer need—the list is endless! The funny thing is, a lot of this stuff makes it difficult to live our lives to the fullest. It gets in the way of the good stuff and so we run out of space.

The same thing is true mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We need to clear out the old stuff. It gets in our way and prevents us from having room for the really good stuff of life. Holding on to things we would be better off letting go of keeps the blessings and true spiritual gifts of peace, hope, joy, and love from filling our lives.

While doing your cleaning this spring, take some time to do a personal inventory and see what might need to be tossed out to make more room for Hope, her sister, Peace, and their best friend, Joy. They will all be brought into your life when you seek God with a heart filled with Gratitude and Love.

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