I was cleaning my daughter’s room and found a somewhat flat carton smaller than a toddler’s shoe box.

My daughter had used a black Sharpie to pen the front of the box.“I can’t keep this stuff anymore.”

Since it was my daughter’s private domain, I did not peek into the box. However, the discovery inspired me to reflect on the idea of Letting Go of the negative things in our lives. For example, ridding ourselves of tangible belongings like photos or mementos that don’t make us feel good anymore or liberating ourselves from things like dark thoughts.

Consider making this year the year to permanently clear mental and physical clutter. Then you can make room for new stuff. Better stuff. Or no stuff. With the new year upon us, maybe instead of making resolutions, you can clear the old things that tie you down and make room for solutions.

What kind of “stuff” can you rid yourself of in this new year? Perhaps, hurtful memories, regrets and/or negative thinking. Maybe there’s a toxic relationship that’s too painful to hold onto; perhaps you need to dump a stale frame of mind and spark it with new interests like enrolling in a foreign language class.

Plenty has been written about the benefits of eliminating the physical-mental clutter; for instance, the process can help you increase productivity.

I read and reviewed a book a couple of years ago, Do the Clearing by John Benz. Admittedly, I wrote one of the few reviews that wasn’t a four or five-star review, which, in retrospect, I might change, because the premise that the author makes in the book sticks with me all these years later. Here’s an excerpt from the book, “Do The Clearing helps you let go of what’s holding you back….It’s your restart. It’s your chance to remove what’s in the way, to connect with what’s special inside of you so you can perform better, live better, and simply be happier.”

Of course, for people who are living in crisis or experiencing profound loss, there isn’t an on/off switch for their streams of emotions that can swallow them whole.

Losing jobs, people and experiencing catastrophic things are serious and nothing can replace the natural process it requires to get through these times. But if, perchance, you can ditch even one negative thought and, instead, maybe take a brisk walk in a “no stinking thinking zone,” it can help you in the healing process.

Sometimes you have to work at faith; like thinking outside the box by filling another box, real or metaphorically, with the “stuff you can’t keep anymore.” Happy New Year!

Stay tuned!…until next time…walk by faith not by sight!

touched by an angel