Spring Cleaning Your Way to a New Life

Spring Buds
Originally uploaded by Jim-AR

Have you ever watched the wonder on a little child’s face when she’s holding newborn, yellow chicks in her hands? I remember my mother handing me several of them when I was three or four. I still recall the delight in feeling their warm, furry little active bodies. Mom reminded me not to squeeze them too hard because they were so delicate. Spring reminds me of them and the other new life cropping up at this time in nature.

Seeing the first robin, little shoots of green peeking up, and the crocuses beginning to bloom are all signs that spring has finally arrived. New life, giving me a sense of new hope, is all around me. As the weather warms up, people are seen in their gardens, cleaning up, preparing the soil, planting flowers or vegetables. This new energy seems to move inside the home as well as spring cleaning begins.

This is a good time to move inward and see what needs cleaning there. This is your opportunity to dust away the cobwebs and the deadwood from the winter and the past. If some of life’s events have been making you feel hopeless, now is the time to create new life, watch it take root, blossom, and begin to grow.

If you focus on how you feel, you will notice a couple of things. If you’re feeling down, your energy level is low. If you feel good about yourself and your life, your steps are light and your energy high. Notice if you are one or the other.

“But I’m neither one nor the other,” you say. What do you mean? Do you have a ‘blah’ feeling?

Examine your life and question why you are feeling this way. Take a step back and pretend that you are looking at yourself and your life from the lens of a camera. Do you like what you see? How come?

Describe your life as you see it. Video tape yourself as you answer these questions. As you watch objectively, list the things you would like to change and then brainstorm some solutions.

As you move from noting your feelings, focus on your thinking. Is your thinking the result of your feelings or are your feelings a product of your thinking? If it is the second case, then try thinking something different. For example, if you’re thinking, “My life is dull, boring and lifeless,” change it to “I am living a quiet and peaceful life. I am becoming energized to make a creative, positive change in my life.” Then begin the process by taking a deep breath and repeating these statements often until you begin to believe them and start acting on them. You will find that your spirits begin to lift and your attitude becomes more positive. In turn, you begin to feel better.

This is a good example of spring cleaning. If you have actually tried my suggestion, you will notice that you have moved from feeling down to feeling good, from thinking depressing thoughts to more cheerful ones. In turn, you have more energy to get moving and make those positive changes you identified earlier. The more energy you have, the better life flows creating a beautiful mosaic for yourself.

Just as nature changes from winter to spring so you too can feel a surge of new life and new hope. Listen to the birds, walk in the sunshine and sing a song of nature. Happy Spring!

Feel free to give me feedback about my suggestions. I’ll be writing more in the upcoming days, so stay tuned!

Until next time, be at peace,

Bride