We tend to accumulate lots of the stuff. It comes in many forms. Look around you, look inside you, look everywhere... what are the clutter items, emotions or negative people in your life that seem to constantly get in your way? Stop you from being productive? Stop you from reaching your goals despite your best intentions? Stop you from being happy? Those things are baggage. Life is too short. Time for surgical removal!!

Try this mental exercise as you go through the next week. Imagine you have a pad of labels that say "BAGGAGE." Stick an imaginary label on each baggage item you encounter, write it down on a list, and then later when you have the energy, you can figure out a way to eliminate it from your life!

I seem to be surrounded by an awful lot of the stuff, despite my efforts over the past year to eliminate it! So I am continuing my own quest to "de-baggage" my life and make things simpler, more clear.

De-baggaging allows you to have room for the things that ARE important to you. Last week my son helped me get rid of two old cruddy chairs in my living room, rearrange a bunch of stuff with the resulting "real estate," and hang up a huge shadow box frame that I picked up at an antique store. It has a mirror backing and all these wonderful little shelves. I was able to put all my collection of crystal animals on it and now I can look up from my desk and enjoy them anytime I want! The dark space in a curio cabinet the animals formerly occupied now has room for other collectibles that were still important to me, but cluttering up my end tables. I managed to get rid of a whole laundry basket of knick-knacks that are broken, or just no longer making me happy in the process. And now I have room for my fountain on an end table, something I really enjoy!

When I let go of things I no longer need, really want or never use, it feels SO good!

Written by: Sheila Talley © 2006, www.butyoudontlooksick.com