Finding joy in the now

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I am getting close.

Close to done.

Close to being able to stop clearing, decluttering, cleaning.

It’s about time!

Our house is listed. The photographer comes Thursday to capture it for the MLS listing that goes up Friday.

And then…. it’s all about keeping it looking like no one lives in it!

I am searching for the joy in that! 🙂

There is something joyful about cleaning out closets and countertops. About gifting to a homeless shelter dishes and towels and other assorted items that are in good repair, but superfluous to us.

Today, the contractor arrives to do some finishing touches — including a bit of painting.

And through it all, I have consciously chosen to not think about ‘the work’, but to focus on choosing to do this work for the benefits.

“I choose to for the benefit of…”

It is one of the simple tools I learned at Choices Seminars 11 and a half years when I first went through the program.

Rather than think about how hard it is, how tiring, how everything… I focus on the benefits.

And the benefits of cleaning out the house are many!

There are moments though when I wonder, why on earth do we have so much stuff?

In those moments, I make a commitment to myself to live my Be. Do. Have.

It’s an old Dale Carnegie teaching and one that is also taught at Choices.

BE committed to DO what it takes to HAVE what you want.

I am committed to getting this house ready to be photographed Friday.

I will do whatever I have to so that it is ready and so that prospective buyers can’t resist owning this lovely place.

And that includes doing the things I”m not all that fond of doing — like throwing out old magazines (do you know how many possibilities I can think of to use old magazine photos in collage and art pieces? Yup — countless!). Giving away once treasured items I no longer use. Packing up the things I want to keep but don’t use every day so that as my girlfriend Tamz said yesterday when she dropped over for a visit, “people can imagine themselves and their things in your house without being distracted by your stuff.”

Minimize. Minimize. Minimize.

Part of my Be. DO. HAVE. is to not Criticize. Condemn. or Complain. (Another Choices tool)

Complaining about having to do the work does not get the work done faster, nor slower — but it does increase my pain threshold while doing it.

Criticizing C.C. for being on a boy’s weekend to watch football in Atlanta also doesn’t help — it is an annual trek he takes with a buddy. They pick a city in the U.S and go for four days college and pro games. They began planning it in July, long before we decided to sell the house. 🙂

Which is why consciously choosing to find the joy in the now, in whatever I’m doing, is vital to getting through this part of the journey calm, centered and collected — and still married to my beloved! 🙂

One thing that has surprised and pleased me through doing all this work — is discovering my body is a whole lot stronger than I think. And that’s another Choices tool:

Find the value in all things.

There is so much value to be found in doing this work and one of the most treasured — the anticipation and excitement of moving into our new home!

Minus a bunch of stuff!

Have a wonderful, joyful day.

___________________

Choices Seminars begins this Wednesday and while I won’t be there, the value I’ve found in using the tools everyday is indescribable.  It’s changed my life. There’s still time to sign up if you’re interested in taking, ‘An Adventure of Your Lifetime!”

16 thoughts on “Finding joy in the now”

  1. I just went from living in a 5000 square-foot beautiful home to a situation where I can fit everything I own into my Toyota Prius V. It’s quite liberating. Now I’m just waiting for the universe to tell me where and when I should settle down. Life is an adventure. Enjoy the new home.

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    • We are Diana — we found a home on the river (not floodplain) and while I won’t have my zen backyard — I will make a space that is equally as soothing — at least that’s my intent. We take possession within the next week and this house goes on the market Friday…

      Please say a prayer for a quick and faultless sale my friend! ❤

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  3. Getting rid of stuff is cathartic, at least it is for me. Living in the RV we have what we need, and that’s about it. We do have art on the minimal walls, and some unnecessary things, but for the most part it’s all pretty basic. We do have stuff in storage, but I will will tell you, every time I look at the stuff in storage, I want to get rid of most of it. Clearly there is nothing I need there.

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    • I love that you have done this Mary — and I know what you mean about ‘the stuff’. We have a big box pod in our front driveway that I am loading with the things I don’t need for now — and my daughters keep saying, if it’s out of the house, leave it out of the house. 🙂

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  4. Good luck with the move. It must be hard to part with things. My youngest is graduating from college this year, and our house seems so big, and empty (except for all my junk I cling to). I may be making a decision in the next few years to move.

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    • I know the feeling! We aren’t actually downsizing — just changing locations in the city — but as I cull and clear out, I keep thinking… do I REALLY need this? Like you — I do cling to my junk — though I like to think it’s more it clings to me! 🙂

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    • I’m so glad it helped Elaine. It is a daily decision to find the value and to not give into the ennui of ‘oh this is just too much work!’ and then veg out! 🙂

      So — I keep reminding myself of ‘the benefits’ and that really helps keep me going. I just loaded my car with giveaway stuff — and fortunately, there were more bags and boxes of giveaway than what I was keeping! bonus! 🙂

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  7. Hi Louise,
    Keep on focusing on the benefits. I do it when I am faced with particularly difficult challenges although until I read your mindful piece I hadn’t really thought of it as more than grinning and bearing it which is also a delightful watchword from my distant past. Love will always find a way. John

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