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Day 54. Spring Cleaning. 

4/16/2015

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The sun is shining and has been all week. It is beautiful to be able to open windows and doors and let a refreshing breeze in while we still remember the Arctic air of winter. People are out walking and biking and everyone is smiling.

I'm thinking of the rituals of Spring and although I can't go crazy cleaning the house there are little things I've come up with that have given me great satisfaction. With the sun shining in come the realization of how much dust has accumulated over the winter. I have started doing dusting in ten minute intervals. Amazing what you can do in ten minutes. I've also taken a drawer at a time and asked Barry to place it within reach so I can organize and discard what was unnecessary. That's when I began thinking about how much stuff we all accumulate and how it complicates our lives.

Spring cleaning is not just a chance to clean up your house and yard but to reevaluate what's in your life and why. Donating clothes and throwing out broken items gives you a sense of satisfaction and relief. Feeling organized is such s great feeling. So this week I have been taking on one small task at a time. A basket here, a drawer there and discovering it doesn't take much energy to do this and the sense of accomplishment afterward is so worth it.

Look at expired items in your fridge and pantry, something you can do as you go. There may be people in your life who you need to take a good look at too. Has your relationship with them reached it's expiration date? Don't hang on to what's finished or not working.

I know another area that is completely doable even if you are bedridden, and that is your computers and smartphones. Many people never clean out their emails and in some cases it can actually slow down your computer. The same can be said for your text messages, go in there and delete, clean it up. If you really want to dig in go into your files and see if there are files and things you have saved but have never used and delete those as well. What about the app you thought you would use but haven't? Get rid of that too, it feels good to clean it all up.

I remember a few years ago I was on several committees; working part time and involved in too much. I decided to scale it back and while I loved what I was doing while I was doing it, it felt fantastic to streamline and not feel so scattered.

So you see cleaning up has many different meanings, yet it can give the same feeling. I think the less we have, the less we have to take care of. I like my husband's saying, better to do things than have stuff. He used this with our girls growing up and I now see them putting it into practice.

So today don't overdo it but look for an area of your life you can clean up!

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    Maureen Clout

    I'm going in for a 4th neurosurgery; this time it's a repair to my lumbar fusion. Here, I will post my daily updates on dealing with diagnosis, surgery and recovery. Join me on my journey.

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