I am not a minimalist, although I have been accused of being one. My husband and I both don’t like a lot of “stuff”. It could be because we have moved 7 times in our 8 years of marriage. And, frankly, when you have a lot of stuff, you have to move all that stuff, and I hate moving! But, recently, we had an Enrichment meeting at church on how to get organized. It got me thinking about what I could organize better at home. I immediately thought, I have to get rid of some toys because Christmas is coming up. So, my husband and I did that. We feel a little better.
But, de-cluttering can be so much more than just cleaning out your toys or going from 10 junk drawers to 1. Have you ever thought about how to de-clutter your body and soul? I have. In fact, I believe it is one our earthly trials in this life. In this day and age, it is so easy to get cluttered. We have TV, music, and the internet that can be toxic to our lives. Our bodies are neglected too. We don’t exercise, don’t eat right, and maybe we justify going to McDonald’s for that large Diet Coke a little too often. OK, maybe that one is just me. But, you get my point. Our earthly existence is all about the carnal man. I mean, we do have to eat to survive.
I know that I, for one, would love to de-clutter a little more in my body and soul. In a recent Regional Conference I attended, the General Primary President spoke. She told about how when she was a young Mom, her life used to revolve around her TV shows. She talked about how some of her favorite TV shows would come on right when she needed to be reading stories to her children to get them ready for bed. She would try to read the stories, while watching TV only to feel frustrated with both. She knew she was neglecting her children, and she looked forward to putting them to bed so she could watch TV. I thought, “Oh no. That’s ME!”
Don’t get me wrong. Every Mother needs a little alone time. But, are we truly alone with our thoughts and feelings with the TV running, or in front of the Internet? No. We need true down time to re-boot. One thought I had when listening to her talk was, “Well, we’ve fixed THAT problem”. In fact, I think I leaned over to my husband and actually said that. We have DVRs now to record every show under the sun. But, are we still running to the TV to turn it on the instant our kids’ heads hit the pillows? What if we ran to our scriptures the same way instead?
Maybe, just maybe, we could turn off the TV, Internet, or movie to truly engage with our child? Maybe we could try going for a walk during the day instead of grabbing that Diet Coke to get our energy boost. Maybe we could practice eating no sugar for a week just to prove to ourselves that we are in charge of our earthly tabernacle. I’m no preacher here. I’m guilty of indulging in all of these pleasures. But, this earthly existence is to become like Christ. How cluttered do you think His mind, body, and soul were while here on this earth. Not very. He was perfect. He had to be One with Heavenly Father. Don’t we want that same type of earthly existence for ourselves. I do.
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