Walking into work one Saturday a conversation was sparked by a coworker of mine. As she stood in the parking lot fumbling anxiously through her purse, she exclaimed, “I have such a small purse but I can never find anything in it!” Without hesitation I replied in agreement, “Yeah, my purse is huge, yet I have no room left for anything else!” We proceeded to chat about what we both find in our purses…old pay stubs, notes-to-self, random phone numbers jotted down messily, lip balm, gum wrappers, buttons, dog toys, head bands, bra straps (what?), granola bars we forgot were there, perhaps a small pet. If you’re a woman, you can probably relate to this. You name it, we’ve got it! It’s no wonder those purse games at bridal showers go over so well. Someone always wins the prize because every item on that list is somehow found amongst a group of eight women’s purses.
What does this have to do with health and wellness? To be healthy is to be plentiful in body, mind, and spirit. For women, our purse is a small hologram of our life. For the rare woman (teach me your secret) who has an organized purse, her life is probably organized as well. Most likely she has a lot less burden to carry, peace of mind, a positive outlook on life, and success. I challenge you to find a woman with an organized purse whose life is in shambles. On the contrary, I challenge you to find a stressed out person with an organized purse. This is not to say, however, that every woman on earth with a perfectly arranged satchel has the picture perfect life. The idea here is that having structure in one’s life can contribute to a much less chaotic existence.
When we are constantly thinking about our daily to-do list, we have little room for overflow in our brain. When we have “baggage”, such as messy purses, files to clean out, a closet to sort, old clothes to donate to charity, and other clutter dangling in the background of our mind, we deplete energy stores. In other words, we create more stress (unknowingly), and reduce our capacity to create a full life experience and to have success in all areas including home, work, and social life. We just keep moving forward with our daily tasks, constantly thinking of those “little” nagging things that need to be done, and then not doing them. I have heard that if we keep doing the same things, we cannot possibly expect different results. It’s true. Perhaps cleaning out your closet would create room for you to have a more abundant social life or quality time with your family.
If you are reading this now, I encourage you to relieve yourself of some of the baggage you have been carrying, whether it is physical, mental, or emotional. Whatever is blocking your mind, body, and soul from helping you take your next step forward in life, remove it. Particularly, if you are a woman reading this, I encourage you to clean out your purse. It is amazing what impact such a small gesture can have on our well being.
Contributor: Andrea MacLaughlin – Hair Designer / Health Advocate
https://www.facebook.com/amclaughlin.bodymindsoul