CLEAR YOUR CLUTTER AND HELP OTHERS
Clutter is bad for you. It's creating problems in your life. Problems you can't even see. And your old clutter can actually help people. Read this article. You need to know how clutter is affecting your life and how it will help others who are struggling or in crisis. Share this article with all the clutter queens you know. Don't just think about clearing your clutter. Get off your hiney and get busy!
WHY Clutter is Not Good For You
Energy or chi naturally flows around your home and when it encounters clutter it slows down and gets stuck. Stuck energy from clutter can cause you to feel like you are in limbo or stuck. Not moving forward in life. It's hard to get motivated to clear you clutter with all that stuck energy. If the energy is really stuck, you can become depressed. And of course looking at all your clutter can make you depressed.
HOW To Clear Your Clutter
CHANGE BEGINS WITH ME - If you want any kind of change in your life, you have to take the first step. Make a sign that reads "Change Begins With Me" and put it where you'll see it every day.BUDDY UP - Choose someone to be your clutter buddy. You'll help support them and they'll do the same for you.
MAKE A DATE WITH YOUR CLUTTER - The clutter you have didn’t accumulate in one day. It’s not going to go away in one day either. Think of it this way. The pizza disappears one slice at a time. Your clutter is going to disappear the same way. Set aside some time each week for small clutter projects. Be reasonable with yourself about just how much you can accomplish. Give yourself a set amount of time to accomplish it.
START SMALL -A big room might be too overwhelming so start with something small, like a drawer. Take it easy and do one thing, finish it, and then do another small thing.ORGANIZE - Divide the big project of clearing clutter into smaller, more manageable clutter projects. Make a TO DO list and check off each thing you finish. Have separate bags or boxes for (1) charity donations, (2) borrowed items (3) garbage/recycling
STUCK ON SOMETHING? If you get stuck it might be helpful to ask yourself these questions about the item. Does this lift my spirits or lower my spirits? Does this remind me of something positive or something negative? Do I really love this or is is just clutter? Is this really useful? Would I be proud to show this to people who visit? Why do I own this? Am I keeping this out of guilt? It might be helpful to make another sign that reads "My Old Clutter Is Going To Change Someone's Life" and place that sign on the stuff you are having a hard time letting go of.
REWARD - Make sure to reward yourself with something when you finish your clutter projects.
WHO Needs Your Clutter
You probably stood in line with her at the supermarket and didn’t have a clue. That’s because when he beat her, he hit her where her clothing would cover the bruises and hide the evidence. After years of abuse, she finally found a safe way to escape. She and the kids are staying in a battered women’s shelter in an undisclosed location ready to start a new life. They need your clutter.
They were high school sweethearts and got married right after graduation and started a family. Then one rainy night on his way home from work he lost control of his truck and was killed. In an instant she became a single mom with no education or job skills to support her family. She and the children are destitute. Mom needs job skills to get off of welfare and become independent and self-sufficient. This family needs your clutter too.
The tornado blew down their street and ripped the toddler from the arms of his mother. They found him alive a few hundred yards away with just a few scratches and nicknamed him “Tumbleweed”. Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and fires happen. Your clutter will help fund relief programs and make it possible for disaster survivors to have temporary shelter, a warm meal, and a helping hand when their world has been turned upside down.
He's 12 years old and fighting cancer. His family is living paycheck to paycheck and can't afford the insurance co-payment for his chemotherapy treatments. Friends of the family are having a benefit yard sale to help raise money for them. They need your clutter too.
WHERE To Donate Your Stuff
There are many great organizations - both national and local that can use your stuff to help fund the work that they do or the services they provide. Here are some links for a few of them.
Give your stuff to help Goodwill Industries train people for jobs to become self-sufficient.
FIND A DONATION LOCATION
Give your stuff to help fund the Salvation Army's disaster relief services.
FIND A DONATION LOCATION
Call your local YWCA and ask what they need. LOCATE A YWCA
Donate your stuff to people and organizations in your community having benefit yard sales like school groups, scouts, churches, social service organizations, pet shelters and others.
Got stuff that none of these agencies can use? FREE-CYCLE it to someone in your community and keep it out of a landfill. FIND OUT MORE