Vitamin Purge

I dropped off a large load of clothes to Goodwill yesterday. As I pulled in to the donation center, I noted a lumpy, mountainous pile of other people's cast-offs nearly obliterating the building - and I chuckled. Naturally, in the final days of this year, the whole city would decide to purge its possessions at once. And why not? Just as a new year begins, why not empty our closets, our toy chests, our drawers? As everyone knows, it's the perfect time to make a clean break from things we have too long been holding.

So why not empty our luggage as well? Yes, I'm speaking figuratively. Why not identify not only those things we want to do in the coming year (Exercise More! Eat Better!), but those we'd like to discard, as well? Of course. it's far easier to part with a moth-eaten sweater than a treasured, inner habit - but the relief after parting will be proportionate to the agony the habit caused us beforehand. If something no longer serves us well (perhaps it never did in the first place), why not send it out with last decade's frumpy styles? An attitude worn too thin, perhaps? An ugly tendency to complain? My list would be so long it would ruin the positive nature of this post, but you get the idea. Perhaps, before inviting in new habits when we ring in the new year, we would do well to make room for them. This will give the new habits room to flourish and grow.

I'm excited to let go of certain things as I start this new year. They've been cramping my style for too long and - like the items I so gleefully left at Goodwill - they're longer welcome in my life. So long, yesterday's ills. Hello, New Year! I'm now free to welcome you without the distraction of extra clutter - and that is a beautiful thing!