Friday, May 08, 2009

Allowing the Crud to Creep

Right now I am in the midst of a most unpleasant project in my home. I'm cleaning out my garage for the first time since I moved into this house almost 9 years ago!

To let you know just how bad it is in there, I just came across a bag of cleaning supplies from my previous house! I set it in the garage when I moved in, and never saw it again until this past week! Let's just say there is a lot of junk in this garage!

One of the things that makes this task so unpleasant is that all these bags, boxes and piles of junk have created the perfect habitat for some very undesirable critters. Spiders are one of my least favorite things in the world, and my garage is FULL of them! I have had more unpleasant encounters with spiders since I started this task than I care to remember! I've also found signs of mice - which is also not particularly pleasant!

I only work on my garage cleaning task for 30 minutes a day. It's so nasty and unpleasant that I find limiting the time helps me in my 'willingness' to engage in the task! Slowly, I am seeing big progress and feeling better about my efforts.

A lesson that I'm learning as I continue the process, is that all the junk I've allowed to accumulate has created the nasty, spider infestations that I'm so unhappy about. If my garage was cleaner and more clutter free, I would not have all these spiders hanging out in there. I'm sure I'd have a few, but it is obvious to me that by keeping lots of junk and allowing all this clutter, I have made it a place that is attractive to these undesirable pests!

I think there is a good metaphor for life in this situation. When we ignore the dark corners of our lives and allow unneeded junk to accumulate there, we invite other, potentially dangerous elements to hang out there as well. When we don't 'clean house' and eliminate the old and unnecessary junk in our minds and lives we attract all kinds of things that we actually don't want!

Cleaning up those junk piles, tossing out what needs to be tossed, sweeping up all the dirt and grime, makes an environment that is more pleasant for us, and isn't as appealing for unwanted visitors.

It's spring time... and the perfect time for a little spring cleaning! Pick a corner... and get to work! It might be dirty work, but the rewards are worth it!

Dirty, dark places are the breeding ground for spiders and other nasty creatures.

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