Giving yourself Dignity

You know how I mentioned having dignity in how you act.

Well, someone needs to tell me that too!  And just did!  Her name is Sandra Felton, and she is the author of Winning the Clutter War, known as The Organizer Lady on YouTube.

She said:  

Cleaning your room is actually

treating yourself with dignity.

This wasn't said in a derogatory way.  Usually we need to delve into what we are experiencing to understand it better, and then to act rather than just coast in that behavior.  So far, I agree that I am giving up a lot of who I can be if I just stay where I am and act as I have.

You know how it is when we get tired, hungry, angry, lonely:  we stop treating ourselves, others, or both with a sense of dignity.  The yelling, whining, complaining, criticizing begin.  That is dishonoring.That is messy behavior that needs attention and management.

Our messy behavior with our things, not just our emotions, may have deep roots, as well.

Sandra Felton explains how many are living out painful emotions through negative actions.

She says,

(1)  We could be resisting keeping the house nicer because we want to show anger. A spouse may leave things messy as a weapon in a family conflict.  Or deep in your own heart you are resisting being made to do what you don't want to do. Maybe you are angry about being forced to spend your time doing jobs that you hate.  The rageful dance is very destructive to moving forward in neatness.

(2) It could be leaving stuff around the house, not cleaning up the room as a statement of independence. Or maybe it is the voice of your mother, the neatness checker, echoing from the past. It becomes overwhelming and one wants to ignore it.

It helps to see underlying, hidden motivations that lead to messiness.  Then one can move past them.

One can find joy in having order and peace.