Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

Spiritual clutter

Continuing on my recent clutter theme, I want to relate an "a-ha" brought on by some comments from a visiting missionary at church this morning. This is a little philosophical, so bear with me.


Our visiting missionary was talking about how we are called to leave behind things that make it more difficult for us to live the life we want to live. The "things" we need to leave behind are sometimes physical, but he asked us to broaden our perspective to include relationships, grudges, and so forth. Of these, he said something like, "If you don't get past those blockers, you'll never have a better life." He also emphasized that getting clearer on what that "better life" is for you can make it easier to choose what to leave behind.


What he said reminds me of some of the core principles of Getting Things Done, and I think the impact is very similar. In GTD, David Allen talks about how you need to get everything out of your head and into a trusted system so you can free up "psychic RAM" and focus on more productive uses of your time and energy.


Likewise, if you hang on to grudges, frustrations, problem relationships, etc. those things will grab a piece of your psyche and prevent you from using your gifts in the most productive, fulfilling ways.


Definitely got me thinking about how I can clean up some of the spiritual / emotional clutter. For example:



  • Who can I forgive (or ask for forgiveness) and get past a grudge?

  • Who can I apologize to and make amends?

  • Do I have any relationships where it's time to move on and stop trying to "make it better?"

  • Are there areas where I'm struggling because I don't have a clear idea what my "best life" looks like?

  • and so on...

Great food for thought.