We all have litter and #junk in our lives--#negative #attitudes, bad #habits, draining #relationships.... Now we have the time to #clean them up.
We all have litter and junk in our lives. It can take many forms; negative attitudes or bad habits you've been meaning to get rid of, or draining relationships or unfulfilling jobs you have wanted to end. When life is hectic it is easy to get caught up in or used to "being" a certain way. We lose sight of our ability to actively get rid of the negative things in our life. In this time of slowing down, here are three areas in your life where you can clean up your mess.
Air out your attitude. Anger, cynicism, fear, self-doubt, pessimism, denial, envy, and jealousy can take the sparkle and shine out of any life. Now is the time to move past them. If you need to apologize, bite the bullet and do it. If you’re still angry and waiting on an apology from someone who won’t or can’t give you one, decide to let it go. Think of any grudges that you are carrying and bin them. They are not contributing to your life -- they are contaminating it --so they need to go to the junk heap. Only then can you put something positive in their place and make some room for happiness. It's easy to give too much attention to the difficult aspects of your personality and life. Take the time to think about the negative attitudes you hold about yourself, others and the world. Challenge those, set an intention and take actions that will help you become more positive. Noe is also the time to chuck out all those boring, useless old habits to make way for fresh and inspiring adventures. Read some articles like this one on how to change bad habits.
Clean up your relationships: Air out your significant relationships this spring. This includes voicing frustrations as well as talking about endearing behaviors and actions desired from the loved one--covering everything from fidelity to money and sex. Now that they are in your space all the time, you really can't afford not to talk openly. Throw out misunderstanding, lack of patience, gossip or lies. True friendships take work, time, energy, and thoughtfulness. They also require forgiveness and understanding. You don’t want to be a doormat to anyone, but you do want to find relationships that are equal and reciprocal. To clean up relationships that are draining, identify the difficult behavior and share with the family member, friend or partner how it makes you feel. Tell them “I'm not accepting _______ or doing ______anymore. This is your problem, not mine. I'm happy to have a relationship with you, but not while you are ______." Then stick to it.
Look at your career: Now may be a good time to take an unwavering look at how you feel about your job or career. Stack it up up against your short and long-term goals and evaluate how you feel (or felt) when you go to work each day. If you're not where you want to be in your career, don't let the fear of failure paralyze you. Instead, take action: sign up for online courses, join a professional organization or seek mentorship. Think about what you wanted to be when you first thought about a career. Make a list of what you love doing and what you would be happy to do every day in a job. Think about the skills and tools you have developed and how they could be applied in other jobs. Read books like The Pathfinder and What Color is Your Parachute.
In this time of pausing, take these moments to clear out mess and junk and clutter in your life. It is already a time of upheaval, so create some more and go with it. There are changes happening we cannot control, but so many things in our control we can change.
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