It's spring! ....says the calendar. Even though this Michigan winter is acting like the last, party guest who doesn't know how to leave, despite that fact that the music is off, the food is gone and the lights are on and bright enough to read the fine print on a Tylenol bottle, it is officially over and we are on our weather way to new beginnings. It's like a first quarter break and a second new year of sorts.
Thankfully, Michiganders enjoy four, distinct seasons giving us a clear, indicator that change is afoot. Unlike Floridians and other residents in mostly single climate zones, who dress in white year round, and pay on average the same energy bills every month of the year, Michigan residents know when the winds of change are blowing in. We have to store the salt bags, hang up the shovel for the season and start our fertilizing program for the new green season, forcing us into new behaviors, new concerns, new ways to look at our world and that can be the catalyst for transformation and renewal well beyond the lawn. Spring can mark the beginning of a new way of being. The new spring buds that appear on trees are a sign that it's time to rake away the dead leaves of last year (if you didn't do it before the first snowfall) to make way for the new leaves that are budding and destined to fall. My metaphor is so obvious at this point, but here it goes. That raking action holds true for other areas of your life. You have to clear away the old leaves in your life, like household "stuff" that's stacking up sky high and threatening your sanity, like limiting behaviors and unhealthy relationships and unhealthy eating habits to make way for the new. Creating a vacuum allows that new space to be filled with new aspects of your life that you choose. Making life happen and not just letting it happen to you.
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Where to begin though? Don't get overwhelmed, you already have the answers, they have been plaguing you as reoccurring whisperings since you can remember. Any of this sound familiar, " I have to get that pile of newspapers out of the garage, or if I eat another bag of chips before bed, I'll scream, or maybe you have been meaning to get an exercise routine going and just haven't gotten off the couch or what about finally making a diplomatic break from that friend who has proven not to be a friend at all. Let's start raking away those dead leaves and making room for the new. And new could mean nothing at all for the time being, but just making room is the first cleansing step.
Cleanse, renew, and transform you, your space, and your world! When we don't cleanse, we pay a price. The US Dept of Energy reports that one-quarter of Americans with 2 car garages can't park in one of the spaces because of clutter. The Harris Interactive reports that 23 percent of adults say they pay their bills late and incur late fees because they lose their bills. Now you know that's money unnecessarily wasted and easily saved. Our exacted toll affects not just our pocketbooks but also our very well being. Studies have shown that our stress levels increase when we are surrounded by clutter. Our bodily functions are taxed when we clutter our bodies' with processed foods and poor food choices. Spring cleaning can mean time to detoxify your body, to make room for fresh food choices and better eating habits. Like poor food choices, behaviors and relationships that leave you filled with regret, guilt and emptiness, need to be heaped onto the dried leaf pile to be taken away, clearing the path for fulfilling exchanges that leave you feeling loved, full, charged and ready for each new beginning.
So when you see the new buds popping up on tree branches, the overcast skies beginning to clear to reveal pristine skies and warm breezes, you could be urged on to tackle at least one of those whispers floating in on the breeze. That whisper that says I want more, I can do more and I can do better. As the tulips burst through the thawing grounds and you glance the bursting colors, maybe you will be reminded that you too can burst with colors of your own, because there is a noticeable brilliance that surrounds you when you are in a state of change, a state of renewal and transformation. So spring into to action even if we are still wearing winter coats, it's here!
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That brings me to another thing.......we?ll talk about that next time.
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