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Many years ago, I encountered a phenomenon which created an awakening in my soul. Our paradigm, or usual way of thinking, can shift suddenly when we receive new awareness from the spirit. I experienced this shift and it opened a door for me. Let me share:

One memorable day, I remember looking around my house and feeling very weighed down. I saw the seemingly endless stacks of papers, as well as mayhem in every closet and drawer. My house didn’t look dirty, but all the chaos underneath began to feel very heavy and unnerving.

As I contemplated what must be done, I remembered, in a flash, a statement a friend had made years earlier. She said: “My house might be messy from time to time, but my drawers and closets are always in order.” That thought kept circling around in my head until finally I cinched my resolve. I was going to clean out every nook, cranny and drawer in my house.

Onslaught

I began the plan of attack. I made sense out of mountains of banking, insurance, and other work-related papers that needed to go in business files.  I also went through all my personal projects and accumulations from the previous 30 years. There was an onslaught, and trash bags were filling up fast.  That battle took several days.   From there, I spring-boarded into every drawer and closet in my house. My motto was, “When in doubt, throw it out!”   Oh, it felt good!  So much junk!

Illuminating Phenomenon          

Three or four days into the mucky, focused project, I became increasingly aware of an interesting and illuminating awareness building in my spirit. I wasn’t only cleaning my surroundings, but I felt that I was correspondingly cleaning my soul! As I organized files and decluttered spaces. I began to feel lighter. My mind began to feel a clarity that I rarely had felt. This gaze into inspiration, made me all the more resolved to complete the task.

Several times, I would mentally pronounce a room “clean,” but hours later, previously uncontemplated places became “highlighted,” and I realized that I needed to do more. I felt compelled to clean out and dust all my bookshelves and even the top of cabinets that no one ever looked in, and even behind the fridge. Was I becoming obsessive?

Stillness Seeping In

As I laid in bed at the close of each day, pleased with my efforts, I felt a perfect stillness seep in, and I consecrated that day’s gain to the Lord. I asked Him to clean MY house: MY temple. I wanted to let go of anything that wasn’t needed so that I could “hear” Him better than before. As my physical environment freed up, my quieted mind and heart soared with a new buoyancy of spirit.

Tsunami of Emotion

One memorable night, at the tail end of this huge cleaning project, I couldn’t sleep. I thought about the transformation of the spaces in my home. Everything was finally in order. My thoughts unexpectedly veered to my childhood. A series of events came flooding into my mind; scenes of my youth where I had experienced emotional pain. I “saw” it flow in a stream of consciousness. A tsunami of emotion with each scene swept over, through me, and out. The faces of those I needed to forgive, materialized before me, and I was amazed that I had held onto such trivial things.

I sobbed and sobbed, releasing many years of “holding on.” I observed how this unconscious clenching unto the stored-up pain of my past, and my apparent lack of forgiveness, was the root cause of a challenge I had endured for many years. As soon as I realized that, I could let it go, and the negativity was released. My “closet” was finally clean!

Paradigm Shift – WHY?

After I had finished the soul processing, I lay there pondering on why this beautiful paradigm shift of emotional and spiritual cleansing had been offered to me, and WHY. As I was mentally questioning, I had the thought unexpectedly come to me, “Remember, you prayed for me to help you clean your house!’” That special night, was a revelation to me! Years of emotional baggage can be forever discarded in a relatively short time. The Lord will clean us if we allow Him to.

So, could it be that the disorder around us has a connection into the disorder inside us?   Holding on to negativity in our emotional surroundings is just the same as holding on to clutter and disorder in our physical surroundings. Over time it builds up and turns to grime and grunge, and sometimes we aren’t even aware of it. What are you holding on to? What needs to be cleaned?

Shifting Your Paradigm -Cleaning Your Inner Self

There is definitely a relationship between our inner and outer worlds. Try this exercise to see for yourself:

  1. Find A Place That Needs a Deep and Thorough Cleaning. (your car, office or one room or closet in your house).
  2. Begin to De-clutter, Organize, and Scrub that Place.
    Make the effort to painstakingly clean and scour every nook and cranny in that area. (Don’t just skim over it,- clean it as thoroughly as you possibly can) The more areas you can tackle, and the deeper you clean, the more uplifted you will feel.
  1. Pray for Inner Cleansing
    Ask for the Lord to correspondingly clean YOUR house; those little cared for parts of your inner self. Could there be negative emotions that need to be released? What about resentment? Pride? Self-Righteousness? The fewer of these emotions and damaging tendencies we carry, the more of His presence we will feel!
  1. Imagine Your Innermost Self Becoming Ordered.
    As you clean your outer surroundings, notice the subtle changes in your inner surroundings. “See” the dirty and cluttered inner spaces becoming cleansed.

Just a week or two ago, I had the unnerving opportunity to see what 40 years of grime can do to an area behind an old stove at our ranch. I felt like I was facing hell as I began to pull all the stuff out and clean underneath. There were layers upon layers of greasy grunge, droppings, and dried food. (Ugh!) I had the sensation come over me once more that as I cleaned out this uncared-for corner, I was cleaning myself. I again asked the Lord to clear any muck or impurities that might be lodged inside of ME. When I finished, I consecrated that space to Him along with my de-grimed self.

  1. Notice How Good It Makes You Feel!
    There is a sense of inner lightness that comes from overcoming dirt, grunge and clutter. The mind becomes more clear and unfettered.

If you feel you want more peace and clarity in your life, consider cleaning up your surroundings, and watch your inner world follow. The more unencumbered we are, the more the spirit can work through us.

Spring-clean your soul, shift your paradigm and feel like a new you!

You can CONTACT Anne at an********@ho*****.com