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Clearing Your Inner Landscape: Freeing Yourself From Emotional Deadwood
Do you suffer from emotional clutter? Is suffering even the right word? Maybe it is, maybe a better description is 'living with' emotional clutter. Emotional clutter is like an addiction. You carry your emotional baggage around thinking you can easily handle it, especially if you treat it like it doesn't exist. Eventually it reaches a point when you feel it's out of control, or even worse, you are out of control. Learning how to 'let go' is the cornerstone of cleaning emotional clutter. It can be one of the most empowering experiences of your life. As you let go, you free up space to expand, unleashing the reasons why you hold onto your feelings. Emotional clutter is a form of interference. When a river is blocked with trees, logs, bushes, etc. the water doesn't flow easily. The river begins to stagnate. So many people ask me why their lives are so difficult, why they always feel stuck. My answer is based on this same principle of the river being cluttered with debris. Our emotional debris is like deadwood in the river. The more you remove and eliminate the deadwood, the better the flow. Generally we hold onto emotional clutter because there is fear, and often shame as well. When we finally make the decision to clear the deadwood, or debris, it means facing the fear and doing it anyway. If your inner landscape is cluttered, your outer landscape may reflect that. Often people with emotional baggage collect material baggage in the form of clutter in their homes. Clearing the external clutter is marvelous, but unless you also clear the emotional clutter, you may be destined to repeat the cluttered house over and over again. You may think that hanging onto things keeps you secure, so you don't feel loss and scarcity. In fact, that is far from the truth. We hold onto things because we already feel loss and scarcity. It only amplifies the feelings. One of the first rules of manifesting abundance is to pay yourself first and to tithe 10%. Give it away, even if you feel you don't have enough. This is the act of trust. It shows faith in the knowledge that abundance will come back to you ten fold and there is abundance for everyone. Holding onto clutter and emotional baggage may be the way you feel worth, or self confidence. It may be a false sense of strength and security. Remember, these are the times when you alone are holding the deadwood in place to block the river. Many people are afraid to cry. They fear that if they simply let go then they will be washed away in an uncontrollable flood of tears. The truth is, once the dam is clear, there is an initial surge of water, eventually slowing to a steady flow. It is the holding that causes so much pain. As you hold onto feelings, refusing to acknowledge them, you put yourself in a very tedious juggling act. You have assumed the role of guard, caretaker, juggler and strongman, not to mention judge and critic. There is plenty of fodder for the judge/critic to use to berate you and deem you unworthy. Now all this could have been easily avoided, had you simply felt the feelings at the time of the incident. Sadly, the times we are really good at that are when we are very young. Something hurts = we cry, we're angry = we yell, stamp our feet, etc. I say this is sad because it is our ever-so enlightened society that has taught our parents to stop that process. How many times have I heard in the grocery store a youngster being told not to cry, stop being upset, don't be angry, etc. This is when we learned to hold the feelings. This is when the dam began. Yes, we can thank our parents, but they were only doing their best with the same thing that happened to them when they were little. It is a societal pattern and it is rampant. Learning how to let go is relatively easy once you know the steps: 1. Awareness These simple steps are used consistently in the process of releasing emotional clutter. Knowing how to use the tools is easy, it's actually the sorting needed to create the awareness that can be the most challenging part. Sorting is the precursor to transformation and change. It is opening the door so that you actually have the awareness. This step can require assistance. It's difficult to do when you are standing in it. It's like the TV series 'Clean Sweep' on TLC. Organizing professionals come into your home and help you sort your physical clutter. You can then have awareness, see your intention to change the situation, choose what you keep and what you eliminate, then take action by throwing things away or having a yard sale. The end result is usually two newly cleared, clutter-free and renovated rooms. You can see some emotional awareness happening, but remember, it took years of inner emotional cluttering to develop into these seriously cluttered homes. The emotional changes do not happen overnight. There is a beginning sort and the first shades of awareness. Will the owners of the home return to their emotional habit of clutter? They may because their inner landscape was not cleared. Generally this inner clearing works differently. The inner clearing happens, and then the external cleaning happens as a result. The lasting effects are there because the people actually released the emotional deadwood creating the clutter in their homes. It's simple, when we feel cluttered inside, we create clutter outside. One exception to this rule are the obsessive 'neat freaks.' They obsessively clean externally attempting to create inner order because they are so emotionally cluttered and may not know how to deal with the emotional deadwood. Either way, it is an act of control. We control our outer circumstances if we feel completely out of control on the inside. Or, we are so controlled on the inside, holding back the emotion that we are totally out of control on the outside. Which are you? Of course, there is a third option, which we can all aspire to- the balanced person, centered, at peace within and living a clutter-free life. In fact, balanced people may be detached from material things. They have created an open space for flow. We can look at these folks with awe and amazement because they experience peace within. No longer is life about control and chaos, a battle between the inner and outer emotional life. It is now about peace and balance. Which lifestyle would you prefer? © 2004 Jodie Foster Jodie Foster is an Intuitive Counselor who assists clients to create extraordinary transformations in their everyday lives. Her work is uplifting, empowering and success-oriented. You can visit Jodie's website at http://www.illuminationsnetwork.com for further information and to schedule a private intuitive session. You can also look for weekly updates to her blog at: http://intuitiveinnovations.blogspot.com. Publisher's Guidelines: You may freely publish this article online, in email newsletters, or in print so long as the resource box and byline are in tact. Author would appreciate a notification, but that is optional.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news News Corp exec becomes chief of Germany's Premiere (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp's chief financial officer for Europe and Asia has been named chief executive of German pay television group Premiere, following the resignation of Michael Boernicke, Premiere said on Wednesday. News Corporation to redevelop London Wapping site (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is to redevelop its Wapping site in London, moving all its UK businesses, including News International, Harper Collins, MySpace and Dow Jones, under one roof. UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News (UPI) Chesney nominated for 7 CMAs ... Hoffman: I'm not playing Penguin ... 'RocknRolla' No. 1 at U.K. box office ... Jessica Simpson stops song on 'GMA' ... News from United Press International. DailyMe: News tailored to your individual tastes (The Christian Science Monitor) Column: Custom news websites come and go, but this one gets it right. Sarah Palin docu wins record ratings for Fox News (Reuters via Yahoo! News) In a week of records surrounding the Republican National Convention, Fox News Channel earned another one with its weekend documentary on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. MySpace ad business ahead of target: News Corp (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp's (NWSa.N) MySpace advertising business is operating ahead of expectations and its digital ad business is performing better than the marketplace, the company's chief operating officer said on Tuesday. STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Erdemir shares fall on iron ore prices (Reuters via Yahoo! Malaysia News) STOCKS NEWS Reuters Results diary News Buzz: Recreating the Big Bang, Gates Urges Slow Iraq Drawdown, Ike Gains Strength (US News & World Report) Top news from the Associated Press For consumers, good news down the line (Sun-Sentinel) Whether you buy a new iPod or not, there may be good news for you in Apple's release of new iPods on Tuesday . Fox News Vaults To Top Of Primetime Ratings (MultiChannel News) Who says no one watches political conventions? Fox News Channel?s coverage of GOP Presidential nominee John McCain?s Sept. 4 acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention drew 9.2 million viewers, topping all other basic cable shows last week, according to Nielsen Media Research data. Site: news - Google News News Analysis A Difficult Road Awaits Panetta at the CIA - New York Times
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for inspirational Inspirational Experts in Fashion, Cuisine and Lifestyle to Share Tips and Trends at Orange County Head to Toe Women's ... (PRWeb) Southern California's premiere women's consumer show, the Head to Toe Women's Expo returns to OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa, Calif., October 10, 11 and 12, 2008. Presented by Ralphs Grocery, the Head to Toe Women's Expo gives mothers, daughters, and girlfriends a chance to reconnect during a weekend of shopping, pampering, makeovers and inspirational speakers. Several experts, ... http://firepit-plans.com Introduces "The Fire Pit Planner Guide" a Comprehensive Inspirational Guide to Building ... (PRWeb via Yahoo! News) http://firepit-plans.com is a new site that offers a unique do-it-yourself inspirational plan to building fire pits, the guide offers tips and advice on operating and constructing fire pits in the outdoors, house garden or backyard. Reporter's Notebook (Dallas Morning News) Certain parts of Irving City Hall will soon be getting makeovers. Residents and visitors can expect to see inspirational quotes on walls and prominent displays of the city?s mission statement within a couple of months. Bob Walter: Iraq hero gets moving tribute in Elk Grove Park (The Sacramento Bee) For a hero: As if anybody could forget Joe Nurre of Wilton, a fitting and permanent memorial to the inspirational Elk Grove High School football captain is attracting plenty of attention in Elk Grove Park. Joe Nurre A plaque dedicates an Elk Grove barbecue area to Joe Nurre. MCC Honors 9/11 Victims and Families (R News) Monroe Community College hosted a special 9/11 commemorative ceremony at the Remembrance Walk on the Brighton campus. The hour long event included music, inspirational speeches, a moment of silence and flowers placed at the base of the 9/11 monument there. Local review: 'Bill W. and Dr. Bob' entertaining, educational (The Pantagraph) For a gripping evening of theater as educational as it is inspirational, ?Bill W. and Dr. Bob? at Heartland Theatre Company, can?t be beat. Steve Amerson to Sing at the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's Convention (Christian News Wire) DENVER, Sept. 11 / Christian Newswire / -- Steve Amerson, well-known Inspirational music artist will be singing at the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's Annual Convention, A Celebration of Honor, in Denver, Colorado at the "Patriots Award Gala" on Friday, September 19, 2008. Radio pirate suspect arrested in Wilton Manors apartment (Sun-Sentinel) When you tune into FM 103.9 in Broward County , you're supposed to hear a sermon by Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale Pastor Bob Coy or inspirational music from the likes of Mercy Me and Steven Curtis Chapman. Randolph Reads kicks off with celebration (Asheboro Courier-Tribune) ASHEBORO ? A Randolph County initiative to unite the community in reading and discussing an inspirational non-fiction book about a nearby town?s struggles with change is under way. Honor Text Helps Americans to Remember (WCAV Charlottesville) The clock strikes 9:11am and your phone beeps, but it?s not your average text message. Instead, it?s an Honor Text, a brief inspirational message about some of America?s service men and women. Site: inspirational - Google News » Inspirational drama anything but 'Broken' - Chicago Daily Herald
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