I went to a friends house to help her with her 24 Things Challenge.

She needed a kick start.

Sometimes we need a second opinion when we clear our clutter. I will admit, I am tough on tossing and my friend, Charlotte (names have been changed to protect the accumulators) was worried I would empty out her entire house.

Charlotte is experiencing massive changes in her life, so the idea of The 24 Things Challenge appeals to her. But, it overwhelms and exhausts her to think about decluttering.

We decided to start with one drawer. Charlotte discovered that she owned six white, long sleeved, shirts. She had no idea. Apparently, she went though a phase where she thought she needed to dress like a caterer.

She pulled one out, wrinkled, and still sporting tags. “Oh, I forgot that I bought this. I loved it and I have never even worn it.”

Her give away pile grew larger. But, occasionally she pulled something out and reasoned that she could “use it for running”.

Before long, the “marathoner” pile grew as large as the toss pile until I explained that she would have to run six times a day in order to use all those shirts every week. She sighed and parted with a few more.

Two drawers later, we decided to stop and turned our attention to finding an outfit for an event she needed to go to that evening. Charlotte had a skirt in mind. We added the newly discovered white shirt , and then…there’s the shoe dilemma.

“What I need is black boots.” She declared staring into the mirror.

“Do you have a pair?” I asked

“I do have one pair but I don’t like them.”

“Try them on and let me have a look.”

She went into the next room.  I listened to her bang and swear. Then she returned wearing her black boots.

“See?”  She said twisting her leg for a better view.  “They just don’t fit right around the calf and I don’t really like the heel.”

“Ok.” I agreed. “Put them in the toss pile.”

Charlotte paused.  She unzipped the boots and held them in her hand.  “Really?” She clutched them close to her chest.

  “I think I should keep them. Just in case.  I mean, what if i need a pair of black boots at some point?”

“You mean like right now?” I asked.  “If you don’t like them enough to wear right now then what makes you think you will like them next fall when you may, possibly need a pair of black boots again?”

Charlotte looked down at the boots, her grip tightened for a moment, then she swore (this time at me) and tossed the boots into the “to go pile”.

This is what we all do to ourselves and we tend to lose the toss battle when we don’t have a  friend, who is trusted enough to hold up the mirror.

If you don’t like something now, if you don’t use it, then let it go. You can be mad at me if you like.

On Day One, of the 24 Things Challenge, we wrote down our Sankalpa, our vision.  It’s during moments like these we need to pull it out and read it.  Be clear about what you want for your future.  See what is coming into your life. Then you can find the courage to make some space for it.  Nothing can enter if we don’t make space.

And it may turn out you had it all along, and just didn’t know it because it was at the bottom of a drawer waiting to be discovered, like a wrinkled, white shirt.

I say to my marathoning caterer friend, who is one of the most stunning women I know, the Formula for Destiny is,

“Everything is energy

Energy follows thought

Thought becomes belief

Belief creates reality,

And reality determines destiny.”

Will you let go and discover things about yourself?  If you blog, be sure to let me know so that I can share your experience and add you to our list of 24-ers.

Get Tossing and Get Clear, my friends!

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Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: Jude Doyland on Flickr