Organize your Towels

The other morning, my wife got up, poured a cup of coffee, opened the closet, took out all of the sheets and towels and started organizing them - at 8 am. Mind you, it is her self proclaimed fact that she is “not a morning person”. It is uncharacteristic for her to try to accomplish something without three doses of caffeine. I asked her why that was the moment to organize the towels and she said, “this has been driving me crazy for a week, knowing that these were all messed up.” Even though the closet has been closed and we could not see the towels, the fact that they were all disorganized was weighing on her mind.

It made me think of what things we cannot see that are taking up space in our minds and our lives - things that distract us, frustrate us and prevent us from moving forward towards what we want. These things can keep us stuck. They may be invisible forces, but they are there and they can prevent you from walking the path that you want to walk.

So, what do we do with them?

The first step is to acknowledge them. Acknowledge the limiting story, the unresolved anger towards your mother, or the fear of speaking up against an unfair situation. Acknowledge the uncertainty of your ability, the inner critic that tells you that you aren’t good enough or the insecurity bubbling up and the ongoing irritation over disorganized towels.

Once you acknowledge it, you can then consider how you will prevent it from taking the current moments out of play. The limiting story? Work on a cognitive reframe with a coach. Unresolved anger? Call your therapist to unpack it. Fear of speaking up? Find others that do and ask them for guidance on how to use your voice. Uncertain of your abilities? Write a list of past successes. Tired of hearing your inner critic? Have a conversation with her to see how she can help you instead of hurt you. Insecurity? Call your best friend. Disorganized towels? Take them all out, fold them and put them back in by size and color.

Acknowledge, confront, act, resolve.

Once you move through, you can move past.