No matter what time of year it is or what's going on in life, there's one thing I know I can always do that will revitalize my perspective and give me that needed boost to make productive and positive changes...immediately.
It doesn't cost anything.
It's not a gimmick or a shortcut.
It's simple and shockingly effective.
I rearrange my furniture.
Growing up, my mom used to rearrange the living room furniture when she was stressed. We found it hilarious when we woke up in the morning and everything would be different. Looking back now though, it made complete sense - with one swift rearrangement, her mentality made a clear shift from overwhelmed to at ease.
After moving into my cottage for one, I came home one day, irritated, upset and unsure how I should sort out the plethora of challenges filling up my plate. Before I knew it, 2 hours had passed and my cottage was completely cleaned and almost every piece of furniture had a new place. I stood there, in silence, exhausted from moving everything around, and it clicked... holy shit, rearranging is the perfect solution! This process of cleaning and physically shifting my surroundings allowed me to sort all of clutter filling up my mind and literally put me in a new found state of peace.
Since that first rearrangement, I've become addicted to the process. Every few months, I rearrange and find myself instantly revitalized. My cottage is small and my funds are limited, so I'm forced to be creative. When I feel the need to add a new item like a table or cabinet, I ask friends and family if they have anything to donate. The majority of the time though, I just work with what I have.
Above all else though, my process of rearranging taught me something that I hadn't given much attention to in the past. So often, we move into a new space and set everything up based on what furniture and space we have, but then we actually start living in it. For me, I found that the way I had initially set things up wasn't ideal. Instead of acknowledging this reality, I'd adapt... I'd leave clothes laying around because my closet wasn't set up in a way that was effective for me to put things away... I'd acquire stacks of paper and clutter because my filing boxes were tucked away... I'd eat out more often than I wanted because my kitchen counter space was taken up by appliances.
As it's turned out, healthy choices and better living began falling into place when I started arranging my mental and physical space accordingly.
After moving into my cottage for one, I came home one day, irritated, upset and unsure how I should sort out the plethora of challenges filling up my plate. Before I knew it, 2 hours had passed and my cottage was completely cleaned and almost every piece of furniture had a new place. I stood there, in silence, exhausted from moving everything around, and it clicked... holy shit, rearranging is the perfect solution! This process of cleaning and physically shifting my surroundings allowed me to sort all of clutter filling up my mind and literally put me in a new found state of peace.
Above all else though, my process of rearranging taught me something that I hadn't given much attention to in the past. So often, we move into a new space and set everything up based on what furniture and space we have, but then we actually start living in it. For me, I found that the way I had initially set things up wasn't ideal. Instead of acknowledging this reality, I'd adapt... I'd leave clothes laying around because my closet wasn't set up in a way that was effective for me to put things away... I'd acquire stacks of paper and clutter because my filing boxes were tucked away... I'd eat out more often than I wanted because my kitchen counter space was taken up by appliances.
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