It was my husband’s fault. Now wait, hear me out, I am being truthful here. He came to me about a month ago and told me that my laptop was no longer going to be supported because it was so old. Now I could have told you a year ago my computer was too old because I unplugged it for more than a second and the battery died. But I digress. He bought me a new computer, yes that was wonderful don’t get me wrong, but it was his fault.

Allow me to continue… While playing with my new computer, which I am exceedingly grateful for, and enjoying the new features, my husband comes down to my basement office and tells me “you know, you could make the big TV down here your monitor.” Well that got the gears rolling. I sat looking around my basement office which has been in the same spot since we got married 20 something years ago. This office has been the collection area for all things life, with papers and memories piled up that I have accumulated from childhood to just about two weeks ago!

So it began, 16 days of moving furniture, cleaning off and painting walls, scrubbing floors on my hands and knees, cleaning all the carpets and getting more bumps and bruises than I care to admit. The overwhelmed looks on our garbage men’s faces as they came down our street once a week and found bags lining the entire front of our home, containing both recycling and trash, was a good indicator that I was cleaning things out. Lots of caffeine, a couple glasses of wine and more Motrin than one could count later, I think I’m pretty settled. If I am being honest there may have been one or possibly two things said that one would call “colorful” in the process. My goodness change is not easy.

To be able to go through everything in the office that I have accumulated my entire life was overwhelming and cleansing at the same time. You see, when I moved here I brought things from my condominium which some of those things were rollovers from my childhood home. The unbelievable effect of having collections and “stuff” that wasn’t needed or enjoyed had been an unknown weight on me for many years. Not to mention how those collections lying around added to the clutter, removing focus from my work. Focus being something I don’t have much of. So that begs the question, is change good?

So in all honesty let’s bring this full circle. Yes, it was my husband’s fault. The fault he had was being an inspiration to me without even knowing it. He inspired me to look at things differently to look at ways to make my life more efficient, by asking one simple question. If you’re curious, no I didn’t use the big TV as my monitor. I enjoy the monitor I have which is large enough, thank you very much. Yes it is his fault but I thank him. So was all this change worth it? That remains to be seen. I’m still quite distracted by the little projects I have left to do but for the most part I feel more focused, more energetic, lighter even, like I just got rid of a bunch of stuff that was dragging me down.

What do you think? How has changed helped you? Has the fear of change stopped you? Let me know in the comments or keep the conversation going at [email protected].