Make SPACE

Life keeps getting more and more cluttered; more stuff, more information, more competition, more challenges, more, more, more… What happens with all this accumulation and there is no room left - fatigue, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment.

How can we make more room in our lives for increased health, family, productivity, contributions? We can make space.

Select what is important. In Wayne Dyer’s The Awakened Life, he mentioned that when we identify that we as human beings really have one business – the people business. Now I realize that that is my business, so all the other clutter that shows up really moves lower on the responsibility ladder.

In family, social and business, understanding and interacting within relationships can become slightly challenging unless one keeps in mind that serving others doesn’t mean sacrificing self. It does mean to serve others and self in a respectful and healthy manner. This already takes some pressure off.

Prioritize our goals. It’s great to have goals. It’s not so great to have copious, competing goals. Come on, you know exactly what I mean. The job, the family, the interests, the wants and needs certainly can stack up and become almost too distracting. Collect all the goals in one area, make a list and establish what is really important. The rest, cross off the list or move to a “someday” list for future reference.

Assess our resources. Having a focus and then reviewing goals is a great start for making space. Next, let’s identify our resources. What tools do we have in our tool kit – skills, knowledge and talents? Who are the people we know that can help us personally and professionally. What about our experiences and community.

Collaborate with others. Last week, in the United States we celebrated Thanksgiving. I heard on the radio that people were cutting back on how many people they were inviting – too much cost and work. Now I really appreciate how much work a large dinner can be, I have even put together one or two on occasion myself, however this can really clutter life and physical space. Whether it’s a family, community or work setting, we can really make space for more enjoyment, more team work if we learn to collaborate. People want to be included and help. Just ask and one is wonderfully surprised with the results.

Enjoy life. When we know what is important, prioritize our goals, assess our resources and collaborate with others, we can really find joy. If we just choose to make SPACE.