My husband is a man of many talents. He can fix virtually just about anything from automobiles to lawn equipment, household appliances to outdoor fountains and just about most everything in between. As an added bonus he can even sew buttons and hem pants and rumor has it that he used to bake butterscotch birthday cakes from scratch.
Recently though I found a little kink in my knight’s otherwise shining armor. The kink appeared out of the blue, on a seemingly uneventful day, a day that would prove to yield a surprising new discovery. I had been given an assignment as part of my Feng Shui consultant training to find a “client” that has clutter in one room and assist the client in de-cluttering and organizing the space. That seemed like an easy enough assignment and my husband willingly agreed to be my “client.”
After receiving the green light to proceed I eagerly dove into the process of de-cluttering and organizing my husband’s closet. While my husband relaxed comfortably in his recliner, I started out by lugging three plastic garbage bags full of clothes and parked them each next to his chair. He appeared mildly curious as I opened the first bag. One by one I dutifully pull out assorted pieces of clothing and held them up. His task was simple, identify the items he wanted to keep or donate. At this point it deserves to be mentioned that these three bags contained clothes that my husband has not worn in the entire four years we’ve lived here and quite possibly far longer than that.
And so the sorting process began in earnest. My husband seemed to quickly adjust to flexing his donate muscles and within minutes a nice pile of cast-offs started to collect on the floor. As we made our way into the second bag, I noticed the beginnings of a subtle shift in my husband’s disposition. A distinct level of turbulence rippled through the air. One well worn sweatshirt after the other refused to find its way into the donation pile. Frustrated I began to question his choices. Just how many of these worn out sweatshirts did he really need to keep, and just when did he start wearing sweatshirts anyway? And then it happened! Poof! In the blink of an eye my husband transformed into a giant pufferfish. There he sat in his recliner, puffed up, eyes bulging, with dreadful little spikes pointing out in all directions daring me to proceed. Apparently I had inadvertently pushed the wrong button and in that moment I quickly learned that my husband neither possesses the natural talent for nor an appreciation of de-cluttering.
Undaunted yet wide eyed at this sudden transformation I warily pressed forward, the completion of my assignment an unyielding motivator. Gradually as we made our way through the third bag I noticed my husband’s inner pufferfish beginning to calm, those dreadful spikes slowly retracting, tranquility once again finding its way to the surface. By the time we finished sorting a large pile of clothes to donate had formed on the floor. Smiling I was ready to continue to the next step of our de-cluttering adventures when he responded, “that’s it, five more minutes and I’m done.” Knowing that I still had to go through his shoes and a host of other items I quickly reassured him that our work was almost complete. More importantly I reminded him that we really needed to keep going as I had to complete my assignment. Pulling out the “assignment card” bought me twenty more minutes. By the time we were done he was once again teetering on the edge of prickly.
Our combined efforts netted an impressive bounty for donation. Three pairs of shoes including a pair of black leather ankle boots like those favored by one Captain James T. Kirk, of Star Trek fame. Fourteen faded short sleeve polo style shirts eleven of which bore the name of a previous employer. Three pairs of swim trunks. Two pairs of very short shorts. Five sweat shirts. One pair of sweat pants. Three zip-up style sweat shirts. Six sweaters and one knit scarf. After folding and bagging the items to take to our local charity drop-off center I gleefully began to organize the remaining “keep” items in his closet.
I have to admit that this was an exhausting assignment but one that yielded many positive results. The following day my husband’s disposition was remarkably more positive no pufferfish in sight. He must have said thank you to me for various little things at least ten plus times throughout the day. He also volunteered how much better his closet looked and that he really APPRECIATED all of my work.
So what are some the lessons that I gleaned from this assignment?
1. Sometimes we all have to embrace our own inner pufferfish and tackle those areas in our life that could benefit from a little good old fashioned de-cluttering and organization. It may be a bit painful at first but you really can get to the other side if you don’t stop and cater to every little sting, just keep going!
2. There’s a time when all things need to move on, even the things you once loved but currently no longer need or use. When we let things we no longer need go, we allow them to continue on their own journey, to be embraced by someone else who will lovingly invite them into their life, their purpose once again restored.
3. Too much of anything compromises everything. When you let go of excessive possessions that you no longer need and/or have room for you create the space for new potential to enter into your life. Now what little pufferfish wouldn’t want to experience that?
Ps. If you would like to learn more about Feng Shui please check out my website “Todayisyourluckydayfengshui” your source for FREE comprehensive and easy to follow DIY (Do it Yourself) Feng Shui step by step quick reference guides.
© Lori Blevins and http://todayisyourluckdayblog.wordpress.com, June 25, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Lori Blevins and https://todayisyourluckydayblog.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Categories: Feng Shui
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Great story, great teaching and reasoning to better your surroundings and an added bonus that others benefit as well. A side note: I hope those short shorts weren’t OP shorts and the Pufferfish I have seen numerous times was donned “the Blevins pout”. Looking forward to next week’s story.
Thanks so much Patti for taking the time to check out my latest story. I’m thrilled that you liked it. The short shorts weren’t OP’s but I’ve heard all about the background on those shorts. I always tease Dave that he morphs into a giant Pufferfish when he gets prickly about something although like you I am certainly familiar with the Blevins pout. 😀