Sping Cleaning for Your Mind Closet

If you would like to plant a very large smile across your face, please follow this exercise: Close your eyes and imagine standing in front of two large, white, french doors. You smell a light scent of gardenia in the room. It is fresh and airy and very clean. You open the french doors in front of you only to reveal a huge, organized, walk-in closet. Its beautiful and clean with a blend of neutral colors. All your old clothes have been replaced. Every hue and heel of shoe line the shelves. Each shirt and dress is meticulously hung on a beautiful wooden hanger. You open the deep drawers to find each garment folded perfectly, each sock rolled in its own compartment, each sachet filled with fresh gardenia petals. You pass your fingers along every hanging item. Each one is soft, silky and smooth to the touch. The color, pattern and design on every piece couldn’t be more perfect. Every shoe, shirt, dress and pant fit your figure perfectly. Even the undergarments are taylor made to enhance the correct parts. Every outfit is new and is a gift for you to enjoy. You are bubbling with excitement. Is the smile there yet?
I find this visual to be a great exercise for my “mind closet.” Now THAT is a scary place. I mean if you can be reminiscing about My Little Ponys one moment then completely change your thought to how String Theory and mexican casserole share a similar bond, then obviously some spring cleaning needs to be done. I want my mind closet to parallel the above visual. Clean and refreshed everyday – or at least most of it, I have to be honest with myself. The largest part of my mind closet that needs sorting through and replaced is the “what-if” part. I know a lot of women have trouble combating the “what-ifs”. They are those old shoes that we can’t seem to get rid of in our mind closet. They are good for something we tell ourselves. For some stupid reason we put on those darn “what-if shoes” and drive ourselves crazy. “What if I can’t pay my bills? What if that guy doesn’t like me? What if my children are influenced by the wrong group of friends? What if M.C. Hammer would have had a day job?” And then we walk around in circles in those shoes wasting time and energy that could be used in such a better place. Today, I am going to start doing some spring cleaning on my mind closet. I am going to re-focus. I will replace the “what-ifs” with the “what-is.” The “what-is” is simple truth. I will replace those old, nasty “what-if shoes” with a pair of sexy, red, high-heeled “what-is shoes.” (Maybe grammatically speaking it should be “what-are shoes” but just go with it.) So anytime a stupid “what-if” surfaces, I will combat it with what I know is truth. I know I will not go hungry. I know I have enough ambition and drive to find a way to make money and pay bills. I know that if that guy doesn’t like me, it is not the end of the world. I know that if MC Hammer did have a day job, we wouldn’t have the coined phrase “Hammer Time.” These are all simple truths. I challenge you to put on your hot “what-is” shoes today. Your mind closet will appreciate it. Now if I can just find the funds to build the real closet that brings that large smile to my face…