I was watching a program about hoarding on a Dr. Phil rerun. The person, I’ll call her Mary, could no longer walk through her house. Her 12-year-old son had to sleep on the couch because his bedroom was stacked with her “valuables.”
Dr. Phil questioned her thinking. “Why do you keep buying clothing that you’ve never worn, and why are you keeping food that has passed the expiration date? and why do you have hundreds of unused gift bags?”
Here’s what she said: “I might need that dress someday,” and “if the occasion ever arises, I’ll use that hanger,” and “I meant to give those away for gifts but the bags are so beautiful I just wanted to keep them.”
After 12 years of making promises to herself that she hasn’t been able to keep, she still can’t bear to part with even a couple of plastic bags and some damaged coat hangers.
I wonder if one root of hoarding is not being able to tell yourself the truth?
This idea brought about further self-reflection. I wondered if I too was a hoarder, not of physical things but of half-baked ideas that seemed like a good idea at the time; of projects that never got completed; of articles never finished all in my computer files.
What story have I been telling myself that makes me hang on?
Perhaps we are all hoarders in one way or another. We hoard on an emotional and mental level. We hang on to ideas, stories and behaviors that zap our energy and steal our time. What would happen if we could completely let go? Let’s explore.
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- When you let go of knowing-it-all you’re free to ask others.
- When you let go of needing to win you’re free to collaborate.
- When you let go of self-protection you’re free to create.
- When you let go of being right you’re free to understand.
- When you let go of proving yourself, you’re free to support others.
- When you let go of being strong, you’re free to ask for and receive support.
- When you let go of needing to be special, you’re free to appreciate others.
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Giving up false needs is freedom from the prison of the ego.
The question: What do you need to let go of materially, mentally, emotionally or digitally? When you let go what will you be free to be, experience or do?
Warm Regards,
Marlene Chism
