Cher Holton, Ph.D. You can manage your life when you manage yourself … and you can manage yourself when you manage your choices! It doesn’t matter what great things you accomplish in life, until you have inner peace and harmony. Once you have inner peace and harmony, it doesn’t matter what great things you accomplish in life.

Overcome T.M.S.: March Into Spring With a Lighter Load!

Does anyone else suffer from T.M.S.? That’s the newest disease to hit the market: Too Much Stuff! We live in a culture that glorifies stuff … and the more the better. I proudly display my stuff: treasured collections of bears, mugs, and dance-related paraphernalia. We also have a variety of treasured prints from places we have visited, painted by local artists. And then we have our books—a suitable amount to create a decent-sized used book store. Did I happen to mention we love music, and have quite an eclectic assortment of CDs? You begin to get the picture! Too Much Stuff! At least we haven’t reached the point yet where we have to pay out good money simply to purchase a place in which to store all the wonderful stuff we’ve accumulated!

March is my Month of Renunciation and Elimination: a time to reflect on all the stuff that has overtaken our lives, and practice the principle of letting go of things that are no longer serving me, to create space for more appropriate and meaningful things to enter my life. During this time, I also focus on releasing beliefs and thoughts that are detrimental to my personal and spiritual growth, making room for higher thoughts to find a place in my consciousness. May I invite you to join me on this journey?

Let’s look at three areas you can focus on, as you practice the powerful Month of Renunciation and Elimination:

Physical “Stuff”:
It is important to begin with actual physical stuff, because our outer world is a representation of our consciousness. While we all suffer from some level of TMS, others have it to an astounding degree. In USA Today*, an article about hoarding described a man in Seattle, Washington, who suffered from extreme hoarding. When his house was sold, a crew went in to clean and discovered there was nowhere to walk except for a narrow path connecting the rooms. This crew hauled out 7 dumpsters of clothes, books, magazines, spoiled food, firewood, car parts, tires, bank statements, and 50-year-old tax records!

In the same article, a Pittsfield, Massachusetts, fire chief told of an elderly woman whose house had debris piled higher than the bed, with one spot where she curled up on the mattress to sleep!

Just recently, I learned about a friend who was cleaning out the house of her aunt who had died. The attic was so full you could barely open the door! She had been storing things to the point where she simply cracked open the door and threw things in. Every space in the entire house was filled with clothing, most still with tags on!

When you feel overwhelmed with physical stuff, try this adventure in renunciation therapy: Tackle one cluttered area at a time and sort your stuff into three categories:

Keep: Use it or absolutely love it!
Release: Sell it; Share it; Scrap it!
Hide: Move it to a holding area for six months. If you don’t miss it: release it!

Mental “Stuff”:
We often hold on to thoughts that are holding us back, or beliefs that no longer serve our higher good. For example: the belief that something is lacking; competition; thinking you are too “whatever”: short, tall, big, little, old, young, unattractive, unathletic, etc.

When you feel overwhelmed with mental malnutrition, try this adventure in renunciation therapy: Start becoming aware of the underlying thoughts and beliefs that rule your decisions. When you discover yourself making choices that are not serving your higher good, say: “… and I am choosing this because …” For example: When I found myself eating too much and the wrong stuff at my mom’s house, I determined that I was doing this because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings—or waste the food she so lovingly made for me. This uncovered the belief that I need to be a pleaser.

Emotional “Stuff”:
Emotional “stuff”—fear, envy, hate, or frustration—is like a virus that eats at our very soul. They drain us of energy we could direct to more positive and productive outcomes. I love the quote by Duke Ellington: “I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues!”

When you feel overwhelmed with emotional overload, try this adventure in renunciation therapy: Recognize when you are feeling a negative emotion—and immediately make a conscious choice to deny its power, then replace with an affirmation of positive emotion. Here are a few examples:

“This anger has no power over me. I am filled with love.”
“Your attitude has no effect on me. I sizzle with the joy of living.”
“I am free from self criticism! I love and accept my body completely. I am good to my body and my body is good to me!”

When you feel yourself suffering from T.M.S.—physical, mental, or emotional—it is time to call upon your powers of Renunciation and Elimination. This month, march into spring by reducing your “stuff,” and you will experience an incredible new dimension to your life!

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*Cohen, Joyce. “The Danger of Hoarding.” USA Today, February 18, 2004. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-02-18-hoarding-usat_x.htm.