I get a daily newsfeed from Realty Times that contains real estate advice. One article this morning that caught my eye was headlined “Remove the old debris in our lives”. The Realty Times article was about getting rid of the stuff than may have accumulated, especially during the COVID lockdown. It told of a woman who finally bit the bullet and cleaned out her garage, which was so full of debris (stuff) that she could not get her car into it. Does that sound familiar?
As I read the article it popped into my mind that we all carry around tons of mental “debris” in our personal lives, mostly in the form of pre-conceived notions or prejudices. The things in the backs of our minds that kick off knee-jerk reactions to people or events are mental debris – left-over stuff that we have not discarded that serve no useful purpose and may, in fact, have become a disservice. These old mental artifacts may cause us to hesitate or draw back from someone different from us for no good reason. They may direct a decision to do or not do something or to go somewhere or avoid those places out of some unfounded fear.
I often advise people who are getting ready to sell their house to declutter to the extent that people can walk freely through their homes without bumping into things or being afraid to knock something over. Life is like that too. Declutter mentally, so that you can walk through life without fears. There is no reason to limit your experience of all the things that life offers just due to your mental debris.
Just as in clearing clutter from a dark and overstuffed garage, these old bits of mental debris need to be dragged out into the light of day and evaluated with the thought in mind that you will discard those that it serves no good purpose to keep. Unlike some of the odd tools that you may have accumulated over time, there is little excuse to keep these mental bits of debris because, “I may need it again someday.” Fears and prejudices served no real useful purpose when they first came into your life and they certainly won’t be useful someday in the future. Perhaps you had some life experience that conditioned that fear or prejudice into you. It is time to discard that event and put it behind you.
The first step to getting rid of this mental debris is to recognize that it is there and drag it out into the light of logic. Many, like a dark place in the corner of your garage, dissolve where exposed to light. At the least, acknowledging them will let you take steps to discard them. Almost all of the things that make up our mental debris are based upon unfounded fears. Face those fears. Expose them to the light of logic and watch them disappear.
Once you clean out your mental debris, you will find that there is room for new things – new experiences and new friends. You will be able to walk through life without bumping into fears and pre-conceived roadblocks. Life is a little more straightforward and enjoyable without that mental clutter causing detours.
It’s Spring. Time to clean out the mental debris in your life. Prayer makes for a good cleaning tool. Ask God to help you declutter your life and get rid or your mental debris.
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