My Five Step Spiritual Housecleaning Plan

Written by yobyol


This morning, in a hurry and late forrepparttar train I saw something outrepparttar 129815 corner of my eye that stopped me cold and had me running forrepparttar 129816 broom. Right next torepparttar 129817 chair in front of my faux fireplace sat three very tiny, very fresh rat, er… let’s call them raisins. Anybody who knows me knows that I have a borderline phobia about vermin in general and rats and mice in particular. The very sight of one tiny mouse would have my 230 pound frame up onrepparttar 129818 bed not willing to come down until I was sure that it was gone.

I’ve always known that there were rats in my house but I’ve been willing to ignore them (i.e. pretend they weren’t there), but these rat raisins revealedrepparttar 129819 very real presence of one of my biggest fears.

No doubt about it: it was time to clean house. It was time to clear my space of anything that a rodent could eat or live in. My sloppy living habits were keeping me from living a clean, healthy lifestyle, and this paralleled my spiritual “house” as well.

After allrepparttar 129820 cleaning and laundering and sweeping was done, my room looked halfway decent, but I knew thatrepparttar 129821 rats were still “out there” somewhere. Action had to be taken to see to it that no rat would ever find my domicile comfortable enough to live in again. I made a list of things to do and before I knew it I had a plan. I noticed that with a slight adjustment,repparttar 129822 plan could be used to clean up my life; my spiritual “house”.

This isrepparttar 129823 blueprint I used to clean house, both spiritually and physically.

1.Admit that I have rats: Those “raisins” by my chair were evidence that I had rats; just as certain behaviors and attitudes I harbored were evidence that I hadrepparttar 129824 “rats” of negativity in my life. Despair and loneliness, as well as a host of other negative feelings were evidence that there was something gnawing away at me spiritually. The first step to sweeping awayrepparttar 129825 filth of my personal rats was to not close my eyes torepparttar 129826 evidence.

2.See What Needs to be Done: My next order of business was to do something to clean up my room. After admitting that there were rat raisins, I looked around and saw that I also had cobwebs inrepparttar 129827 corners, and also dust on allrepparttar 129828 surfaces, a refrigerator that needed cleaning and a myriad of other things that needed doing.

I sat down and made a list. One by one I examined my room and wrote down what was wrong with it. By doing this I could see exactly what needed to be done. Inrepparttar 129829 same way, I could make a list of things in my life that are wrong and see exactly what needs to be done with that.

Uncovering Your Joy: Using a Personal Journal to Discover a Life Filled with Happiness

Written by Patti Testerman


You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long asrepparttar bylines are included andrepparttar 129812 resource box is left unchanged. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. Uncovering Your Joy: Using a Personal Journal to Discover a Life Filled with Happiness Copyright 2004 Patti Testerman Journal Genie, The Website That Talks Back http://www.journalgenie.com Uncovering Your Joy: Using a Personal Journal to Discover a Life Filled with Happiness

Author Tristine Rainer wrote “Happiness within a diary has less to do withrepparttar 129813 events you encounter in life than withrepparttar 129814 way you experiencerepparttar 129815 process of living.” Because a diary mirrors how you perceive and deal with events, it can be used for developingrepparttar 129816 capacity to more fully experience joy.

Do you use your journal only for problem-solving, dark days, sorrowful feelings, or depressive thoughts? If so, why not start recordingrepparttar 129817 happiness’s as well. In fact, why not keep a special Joy Journal? That way, when you’re having a bad day, just pull out your Joy Journal and re-experiencerepparttar 129818 small happiness’s.

Will keeping a journal actually bring you joy? No. However, many diarists have used their journals to alter their perceptions and inrepparttar 129819 process achieve a joy filled life. For example, Rainer cites one woman’s first attempt at writing positive emotions, after years of negative entries:

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