Dear Friends,

One time we really struck a nerve when we asked you to declutter just one cookbook. Your rebellion has nothing to do with cookbooks! It is just a symptom of a much greater problem.

Your identity is manifested in your belongings. As a result of this, you feel that getting rid of even one book is in some way giving part of yourself away. Now hear me out. I know this is very hard for you. I have been right where you are just few short years ago. I am not as heartless as you make me out to be. I want for you, what I have Peace. This peace came from letting go of the things that had hidden the true me. This process helped me to become MARLA; the MARLA I had never known.

You see, I have always been searching for her, but she was hiding behind the books of a “Wanna Be” Lifestyle of Decorating shows, Cooking magazines, HGTV, and Pinterest. None of the things I wanted in my life ever happened until I got rid of my clutter.

My clutter included not only these books and magazines, but numerous collections of family memorabilia that I had clung to. This STUFF was holding me back. I can hear you now. “How could this keep you from being MARLA?” This was part of your heritage. Here’s How!

I was stuck in my Past and wishing for the Future and was not living in the present. OH! Poor me!!! for having a tough childhood or having lived through a bad marriage. I hoped that one day, I could have a good marriage and a wonderfully, lovely organized home. Do you see how I had planted my seeds in, “What had been soil” and “What could be soil” and I was not sowing those seeds in the “HERE AND NOW SOIL” that I was living. My clutter was my camouflage. With it surrounding me, I did not have to deal with the NOW! I could sit and feel sorry for myself or dream of a fairy tale life.

This is when I began to take inventory of what thoughts I had when I looked at the things around me. If something did not bring a smile to my face, I got rid of it. If I had sad feelings when I saw an item, I gave it new home, by giving it away; a new memory of giving instead of stealing my spirit.

Guess what happened? My life began to change! I got rid of all the items that were holding me in the past and only surrounded myself with things that gave me JOY and filled my heart with Love! This constant influx of Love and Joy peeled back the layers of self-doubt. I emerged from my cocoon of clutter to find my wings and now I am FLYing high. So high that even in my wildest dreams, I never thought of the blessings that I have now.

What is keeping you locked in your cocoon of Clutter? Are your ready to find your wings and soar with me. Peace is the journey, not the destination. Each bit of clutter you release allows you to FLY higher.

COME FLY WITH ME! I am begging you! Now I am crying and I don’t know what else to say to lift you up.

FlyLady