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Healing: Keep Your Joy

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By Denny Lyon

Part Two of Universal Spiritual Principles That Work - Did you ever wonder how to use universally known spiritual principles in a practical way that can enhance your everyday life? Do you know what keeps you off balance in life?

Photo by marklarson @ flickr
Photo by marklarson @ flickr


Indian proverb

There is an Indian proverb that says that everyone is a house with four rooms – a physical, an emotional, a mental and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time, but unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.

It really is important to fully furnish each and every room to gain the fullness life offers.

Balance in life is paramount in order to succeed.

Begin at the beginning and remove emotional clutter

Photo by lylamerle @ flickr
Photo by lylamerle @ flickr

Clear the clutter

Remove emotional clutter

The main reason people end up stressed and out of balance is because we are not emotionally clear. It is easy to get so emotionally cluttered we can no longer even take inventory of what all is in there, stored away for decades. We often know we don’t feel as good as we could but just can’t easily articulate it and point to any one situation. The reason for that is because the emotional clutter is layered up like piles of dirt on a shiny diamond no one can find.

Photo by YellowDog @ flickr
Photo by YellowDog @ flickr

Extremely cluttered conditions


Emotional clutter builds up over time

Emotional clutter builds up over time. That clutter is like unwelcome cobwebs. When we are not visiting our emotional room soon after any life event it can disturb our inner house. Sometimes a life experience is just annoying like opening the door and a wind gust throws in a layer of fine dust that is easy to remove. Other times an ongoing chronic life event can get overwhelming where it feels like you are buried in a blizzard trying to dig yourself out. Then there are those rapid fire intense life situations that feels like a hurricane came at you so hard you end up part of the Blue Roof (tarp) Club while waiting for repairs, left wondering how long it will take help to arrive in your personal disaster zone.

Photo by ChicagoEye @ flickr
Photo by ChicagoEye @ flickr

Layers of life events create emotional clutter

Many life events come our way. The important thing is to take notice of the effect upon us emotionally and spiritually. Do we lose hope? Do we question our faith? Are we angry, fearful, resentful or disappointed?

Most of all: What do we do with these emotions? The worst thing to do is ignore them. That’s when the clutter pile starts looking like a landfill dump.

The second worst thing is to set them aside for examination at a later date. Human nature being what it is that’s when procrastination comes in. We like to avoid what we think may be unpleasant or difficult. The thing is that when we visit our inner rooms on a daily basis none of this examination is difficult and takes little time. It’s the mile high pile that can be overwhelming.

Photo by Nikki L. @ flickr
Photo by Nikki L. @ flickr

First step to removing emotional clutter  

Who wants to experience joy only every now and then? Why not a steady stream on a daily basis? The first step to removing emotional clutter is to set aside guilt and self-condemnation for getting into this fix in the first place. Relax. Mankind has had this issue for millennia and will continue until universal spiritual principles are taught to every generation in the schools and at home instead of only in a religious situation.

Too often people have been taught to get tough, deal with it and move on. That’s usually the response of others who have yet to develop emotional maturity in the area of compassion for others. While it’s great to learn to be tougher and eventually move on, there is little taught about the process of achieving that success. People are just expected to do it because they are considered to be inconveniencing those around them. That’s an attitude that does nothing to contribute to the troubled person’s ability to process. In fact, all it does is create another layer of emotional resentment added to the overwhelming pile.

Take your focus off others and place it on the inner you

Don’t allow other people to influence you into feeling guilty or unworthy. All this does is cause you to focus upon resenting them. Instead, focus upon the emotional clutter as a project of an inner room you want to air by throwing open the windows to bring in fresh ideas. Take your focus off what is outside of you and place it on the inner you. That brings a calm and clarity, especially when lovingly visited with only kind emotions. There really is something to be said for the philosophy of being kind to yourself after you have heard a litany of negativity from toxic people.

Photo by stephentrepreneur @ flickr
Photo by stephentrepreneur @ flickr

Get happy, get organized!

Second step to removing emotional clutter

Visualization. Good old-fashioned daydreaming is what visualization really is all about. What could be more fun than that? You get to create situations in your mind and dream about what could be.

Photo by .....dotted..... @ flickr
Photo by .....dotted..... @ flickr

 

Visualization is a valuable tool for removing emotional clutter.  Using this technique to help heal is easy and useful on a constant basis.  There is no end to the ideas you can imagine to solve any problem.  Solutions always take place in your inner rooms.  Our best inspiration is waiting there for us to visit and decide to use for our benefit.

Photo by biskuit @ flickr
Photo by biskuit @ flickr

Visualization exercise

An easy inner mind exercise is the one of emptying your filing cabinet. How often do we find ourselves buried in a sea of paperwork at work or in our home offices? Well, the same holds true for our emotional clutter.

Imagine your filing cabinet stuffed so full you can’t close the drawers no matter how much you push and shove to try to force it. You see manila folders all over the floor piled high up against the walls. Loose papers are falling out and spreading all over the place in a total mess. You can’t even walk into the room without wondering if you will slip and fall. The bookcases are a total disaster. You can’t find anything as it is all out of order. The same holds true for confused emotions not knowing how to express themselves.

Put your 800 pound gorilla to work FOR you

Photo by TXZeiss @ flickr
Photo by TXZeiss @ flickr

See yourself rolling in a really huge garbage can. Make this visualization fun. Enlist an 800 pound gorilla to sweetly be your clutter aide. Now start emptying that filing cabinet. Make sure you remove every piece of paper. Remember nothing is important in this room and it all has to go.

Keep going through all your files. Trash all the files sitting on the floor piled high. Hand them to your big gorilla to put into the garbage can. Now go to the bookcases and clear the shelves of all clutter. Keep nothing. Your gorilla is strong enough to carry the files to the trash.

Achieving your goal

Notice the clutter is beginning to disappear and you can now see the floor again. Look! The computer desk is right where you left it! Look! You can see the bookcase once again! Inner progress is wonderful, isn’t it? Inform your sweet gorilla to wheel the garbage can out to the street for trash pick-up in a few moments.

Make sure you go to the window and wait for the garbage truck as it suddenly arrives. You and your gorilla are enjoying the moment. He has his big arm around your shoulders to congratulate you on a job well done. You both smile and high-five as the garbage truck empties your can and starts to crush all that clutter that once overwhelmed you.

It’s been a good day. Success!

Success is won on a daily basis

Photo by _cr_ @ flickr
Photo by _cr_ @ flickr

Success is won on a daily basis. Use this visualization for several days in a row. It’s like dressing for success on the inside. What you will find out is that emotional clutter was just an unconscious habit. Habits don’t go away overnight.

New habits can develop

New habits can develop. The habit you are developing here is the habit of removing emotional clutter before it can build up into an intolerable mess. Your goal is to remain emotionally clear and you achieve that goal by removing daily clutter.

The next step to maintaining your joy is how to stop the emotional clutter from developing to such an intolerable level in the first place.

Summary

Balancing rock of Green Bay, Fish Creek, Wisconsin, USA     Photo by James Jordan @ flickr
Balancing rock of Green Bay, Fish Creek, Wisconsin, USA Photo by James Jordan @ flickr

Summary and blogs by Denny Lyon

Balance in life: important

Balance in life is paramount in order to succeed. Joy is necessary to maintain your balance in life. The best way to maintain your joy is to remove emotional clutter.

Emotional clutter builds up over time. The first step to removing emotional clutter is to set aside guilt and self-condemnation. Take your focus off what is outside of you and place it on the inner you.

Visualization is a valuable tool for removing emotional clutter. Success is won on a daily basis. Use visualization for several days in a row. Your goal is to remain emotionally clear and you achieve that goal by removing daily clutter. There is no end to the ideas you can imagine to solve any problem. Solutions always take place in your inner rooms. Our best inspiration is waiting there for us to visit and decide to use for our benefit and our healing.

Part One

Healing: Universal Spiritual Principles That Work -

Did you ever wonder how to use universally known spiritual principles in a practical way that can enhance your everyday life?

***

Blogs by Denny Lyon


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These blogs are where I park my HubPage hubs/articles. Also, lots of cool photos from our friends over a flickr as I like to promote the photographers who graciously allow use of their photos in the Creative Commons area to online writers. Lots of good quotes, poems, resources and recipes.


>

The Social Poets - a blog to read poetry, nonjudgmental place for aspiring writers, also online coffeehouse for discussing the social issues in a convivial atmosphere.

The Soul Calendar - wondering about the Universe without as well as within:  astronomy, physics, psychology, neuroscience and more.

The Healing Waters - a welcoming place to stress down and approach health from many angles, healthy recipes too.

Romancing The Chocolate – yummy photos, recipes and just plain fun. Quotes illustrated with chocolate photos to make you laugh!

Comfort Food From Louisiana – yummy easy comfort food recipes, photos of New Orleans, history and cultural traditions of south Louisiana.

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Comments are welcome

RSS for comments on this Hub

ripplemaker profile image

ripplemaker  says:
13 months ago

There is much to learn from this hub. I believe I will come back often to reread this one. :)

Madison Parker profile image

Madison Parker  says:
12 months ago

There are, indeed, many things to take away from this. Good hub!

Madison

SEM Pro profile image

SEM Pro  says:
10 months ago

WOW Denny - GREAT HUB! Incredible job. Great messages - love it!

Denny Lyon profile image

Denny Lyon  says:
10 months ago

Hi, SEM Pro, thanks for visiting and glad this wisdom spoke to you in a beneficial way. Once I figured out this stuff it was time to "pass it forward" as they say...!

Feline Prophet profile image

Feline Prophet  says:
10 months ago

Just stumbled upon this hub, and I'm glad I did! Let me enlist the aid of that gorilla now! :)

Denny Lyon profile image

Denny Lyon  says:
10 months ago

Hi, fellow Feline, thanks for visiting!  You are always welcome any time!  The gorilla and I have become best friends over the years.  I think he's so handsome, dont' you?! ;) Seriously though, I was very happy to run across this photo over at flickr creative commons as the expression on such a powerful face was endearing.

Feline Prophet profile image

Feline Prophet  says:
10 months ago

Yeah...he looks sort of comforting you know...like, don't worry, I'm here...together we'll get rid of all the baggage. :)

Cliff  says:
9 months ago

Hi Denny, Interesting Indian proverb! I was reminded of a one day communication class that I had early last year. The instructor said that there were four types of communication. Three of them were emotional, action, and thinker. I believe the fourth was administration. (Some day, I will have to find those brief notes.) Anyhow, the four rooms reminded me of those four types. Perhaps that is coincidence, but I wonder.

We filled out a form related to our communication style. Emotional people like emotional words involving feelings. Action people like action words. To no surprise, many of the fire crew placed in that category. Thinker looks at the long term. To no surprise, I placed in the thinker style. Administration, if I remember correctly, looked at the shorter run.

I also like the words on clutter. There is a bunch of it. Sometimes, I joke that a day will come when the earth is covered with clutter. In the 1990s, I did some work with erosion control on various waste sites related to construction and industry. There is a bunch of it, and I see my share around towns and roads.

Denny Lyon profile image

Denny Lyon  says:
9 months ago

Hi, Cliff, thanks for stopping by and giving such interesting info as a bonus! It reminds me of the 4 thinking/learning styles/quadrants of the brain. I'll have to see if I can turn it up somewhere on the web - make a great new hub, thanks!

prasetio30 profile image

prasetio30  says:
6 months ago

I always enjoy my life. Cheerful makes me happy and this is the best healing for our heart.

Denny Lyon profile image

Denny Lyon  says:
6 months ago

Hi, prasetio30, thanks for stopping by for a visit! You are so right - cheerfulness, joy, the kind of happiness that comes from a job well done - all contribute to keeping our health sound and balanced!

Mike Dennis profile image

Mike Dennis  says:
4 months ago

Beautiful uplifting hub full of 'hope' and helpful pointers on clearing the clutter and baggage of our lives. I like the Indian saying about 'the four rooms'. Thanks for sharing mike dennis

Denny Lyon profile image

Denny Lyon  says:
4 months ago

Hi, Mike, thanks for stopping by and leaving your comment! The Indian proverb is a favorite for me too because it really does say it all.

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