Ordering Chaos

I'm reposting a blog from Mare Petras who rights a monthly blog called Life With a Twist for RealBuzz.com  

Ordering Chaos

MAY0320132:39 P.M.

“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” - Flaubert.

I’m with Flaubert regarding this orderly notion. When friends ask about my plans for semester break, I respond: “I’m going to spring-clean and organize my house.” The usual reply is: “Are you kidding me? You call that a break!”  Hey, realbuzz friends, I like to have fun as much as the next gal . . . just after I scrub my toilet, fold the towels, and organize my bookshelves.

 

When my home is clean and orderly, I do better -- not only in my studies, but also in maintaining my healthy active living objectives. I’ve discovered that an ordered, uncluttered environment provides me a lightness of being, which motivates me to eat healthier and exercise properly.

To understand how ordering chaos can help you get and stay healthy, it may also help to consider a reverse scenario: Think of a time you pigged out or skipped your workout. Can it be traced back to feeling de-energized and drained?

In Feng Shui Simply: Change Your Life from the Inside Out, Cheryl Grace discusses how your immediate environment can directly affect your body’s energy levels. Most people strive to operate at 100 percent, which is not always easy or possible. Operating at peak performance requires getting a restful and rejuvenating night’s sleep, which in turn depends on various factors – your bedtime, comfort levels (i.e.: soft sheets, firm mattress, or desirable room temperature), overall mental state, as well as any distractions or disturbances that keep you awake or wake you mid-sleep.

According to Grace, “Each positive aspect of your night’s sleep helps the body to more completely relax, replenish, and repair. Conversely, every negative variable chips away at the amount of energy you could be restoring.”

 

Imagine this:

Waking after a fitful sleep (and already with a 20 percent deficit from your energy bank), you wearily scan your bedroom. Because you were too tired to hang up your clothes before you crawled into bed, the first thing you see is clutter and mayhem surrounding you (reminding you of an every-growing ‘to-do’ list).  Ill feelings consciously (or unconsciously) arise and deplete your energy levels another 10 percent. Note, your energy is already down 30 percent, and you haven’t even gotten out of bed!  Driving out of the garage, you fret about the ground-to-ceiling disorder (another item on the list), and—poof—another 20 percent of energy zapped away.

See how 50 percent of your energy reserves can be spent even before starting your workday? How can you be at your best (on the job, at school, or at the gym) when you’re running on half empty? While it’s impossible to completely control life’s drains (nagging co-workers or rude drivers), you can take control of and re-energize your living space.

*****

Rejuvenate energy levels by uncluttering your environment. Try this de-cluttering tip from Grace: Give or “gift” 27 items in your home that you no longer want or need.  Speaking through Feng Shui wisdom, Grace asserts that when you hang onto things because you think you “may need them one day,” you are not trusting that the Universe will always provide you with everything you really need. Moreover, clearing space makes room for new things, opportunities, or ideas.

How about you realbuzz friends? Does your environment energize or drain you?

Until next time . . . a “lighter” Mare