This Is What Happens When You Finally Learn To Say Goodbye To Everything That's No Longer Good For You

Aug 13, 2018 by apost team

America suffers from Affluenza, that made up word for our sickening habit of holding onto an excess of material things to the point of robbing us of our lives. The time, energy and money that goes into maintaining our hoards of possessions and the space to hold it all is something we cannot get back. Many Americans are beginning to wise up to this issue and embrace smaller homes and a simplified, less materialistic lifestyle so they can get their life back.

More insidious is the closets full of skeletons and emotional baggage that rob of us of the ability to live in the present and build a future of our choosing. The physical possessions we think we need are much easier to see than all these nebulous mental and emotional constructs. If we can't empty our actual closets of things we no longer need, how on earth do we empty our metaphorical closets?

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We start by saying no to the people that make us feel sucked dry instead of nourished. These emotional vampires can be hard to ditch. They will do all they can to insist you must keep feeding them, though it is your life's blood that feeds them while you get nothing in return.

They are the naysayers, the Negative Nans, the narcissists, doubters and holier-than-thou types. The people who are too busy to lend a hand when you need it, yet still expect you to dutifully show up on time anytime they need help.

The next step is looking for objective metrics instead of listening to all the negative self talk. Don't listen to the internal voice that says you aren't good enough or smart enough. That voice probably isn't really yours to begin with. If you listen closely, it probably sounds like some relative and the words are probably things you heard repeatedly as a child.

Instead of listening to that nonsense, go find out how good is good enough to do the thing you want to do. If you aren't there yet, set some goals and get good enough. If it takes a year or more to get there, so be it. If you want it, make it happen. Don't give up just because it will take some time and effort.

Learning to let go of all this unhealthy stuff doesn't mean everything will be cushy. There is still room in there for attitudes like "No pain, no gain." When you are no longer being bled of your time and energy by a host of emotional vampires, you will have plenty of energy to stretch yourself, to push yourself, to reach for more.

A journal is a great way to work on yourself. It can help you paint the picture of your closets full of skeletons and track your progress on cleaning them out. When you are having a down day, you can read last year's journal to see how far you have come. There is nothing like hard evidence of that sort to shut those annoying negative voices up once and for all.

Have you forwarded this article to your best friend yet? Don't forget to show this article to everyone who would agree with it, and those negative nancies you should cut out of your life!