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I’m something of a squirrel and not brilliant at sorting out what needs keeping. However, de-cluttering isn’t about throwing everything away – it’s about losing what’s useless and ugly in order to have space for things that are useful and beautiful. Magazine articles urge us to “tackle a single or drawer/shelf at a time” and give ourselves permission to dispose of things we neither like nor use. Yet at the back of our minds this voice warns we might need it one day, or that if Auntie Nora found out, she’d be so upset. (Apologies to Auntie Nora – no offence intended!)

What stops us streamlining our possessions or de-cluttering our lives? Sometimes we’re so busy just living, we don’t examine what we’re doing to check it’s all really necessary. Anyway, if we’re coping and “it ain’t broke”, why do we need to mend or change our lives? I guess the question then becomes – are we happy going round our circles like hamsters on wheels? Are we tied into old patterns, even though deep down we’d like a change?

Happy folk don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just know how to make the most of what comes their way. They dream dreams and dare to be who they want to be. In the words of Susan Jeffers’ book, they “feel the fear and do it anyway”. Growth involves risk; risk involves fear. Are you daily doing a job you have no real passion for? Are you afraid of trying something new in case you fail, or look foolish? If you don’t move without an ironclad guarantee, you stay where you are and stagnate. At the end of the day our “what ifs” turn into “what might have beens”.

Don’t let fear hold you back. Explore the possibilities – throw the clutter out – reorganise your life. Is this the time for the real you to emerge?

De- cluttering life