Tuesday Thoughts: Your Life Has a Junk Drawer

Isabelle

Sep 8

3 min read

Hi Friends,

I have a junk drawer. You probably do, too.

You know the one. The drawer you open when you need a rubber band, a pen, a battery, or that little screwdriver you know is somewhere in there. You pull it open and immediately wonder how one drawer managed to become the final resting place for approximately 47 unrelated objects.

There are probably a few mystery keys in there. Nobody knows what they open anymore, but throwing them away feels strangely dangerous. There might be batteries that may or may not work, three takeout menus, a birthday candle, a measuring tape, and something you look at every few months and think, “I really should figure out what this is.”

And then you close the drawer.

Problem solved.

Except… what if we have a junk drawer in our lives, too?

We tend to collect things along the way. Expectations. Old ideas about who we are supposed to be. Things people said about us that we quietly believed. Roles we took on because somebody needed us. Dreams we put away for later. Habits that once served us but don't really fit anymore.

And just like the actual junk drawer, we don't necessarily put these things there intentionally. They just accumulate.

Something happens, we tuck it away.

Someone needs something from us, we make room.

We have a dream but the timing isn't right, so we put it aside.

We realize something no longer feels right, but we aren't quite sure what to do with it, so… into the drawer it goes.

And isn't it funny how we all have things we tell ourselves we're going to declutter one day? The closet, the garage, the room we keep closing the door to. We imagine that someday we'll finally have the time and motivation to tackle it. But often, it takes a move, a disaster, a renovation, or some other situation that leaves us no choice, to finally make us deal with it. I've been watching a woman on social media who actually helps people do exactly that. She goes into a room, closet, garage, or other space that someone has been putting off for years, sets a timer, and helps them tackle it. And the fascinating part? None of these projects seem to take forever. A few focused hours can make an enormous difference. It makes me wonder how much of what overwhelms us isn't actually as enormous as we have convinced ourselves it is.

The funny thing is, sometimes we don't even realize how much we're carrying until we finally open the drawer and actually look.

And maybe that is the part that makes me think.

We don't necessarily need to clean out our entire lives in one dramatic afternoon. We don't have to figure everything out, reinvent ourselves, or throw away everything from the past.

Maybe we just need to open one drawer.

Look at what's in there.

Ask ourselves, “Do I still need this?”

And perhaps the answer will be yes.

Perhaps it will be, “Why on earth have I been keeping this?”

And maybe there will even be a few things we aren't ready to get rid of yet. That's okay too.

Because sometimes clearing space isn't about knowing exactly what comes next.

Sometimes it's simply about making room for something new.

So, now I'm curious…

If you opened the junk drawer of your life today, what is one thing you might finally decide you don't need anymore?

PS: Message me for a free consult to start moving toward a more confident you.

You are loved. Deeply loved. Loved beyond measure.