Declutter your life to reclaim happiness

Nowadays, one hears a lot of people complaining about their life becoming highly complicated, extremely busy, and exceedingly mechanical. These individuals are perpetually embroiled in the humdrum of their daily existence, often doing the same old things day after day. What drives them is a false hope that this fervent activity will somehow lead them to abundant happiness and meaningful existence. But the fact is this endless hustle-bustle leads them nowhere and they continue lamenting the loss of their leisurely time, the loss of the things that they value the most in life and the concomitant loss of a crucial part of their self.

If we peruse our life deeply, we will realise that we accumulate far too many things than we actually need, we make umpteen inconsequential commitments we can do easily away with, we always carry an almost endless list of unfulfilled desires and we never pause for even a moment to introspect where we are headed to with all this. Our cell phones keep on beeping forever, our minds are always muddled, our surroundings are cluttered, and our attention gets repeatedly drawn into a world of evanescence. There is almost no space and time to reflect on who we are, what we really aspire for and what we want.

Reclaiming our happiness can be fairly simple. What we need to do is declutter our existence, simplify our life and retreat within. When we remove all that is unnecessary and noisy from our existence, we get connected to our true Self and the vast universe. Subsequently, our life brims with peace, vitality, meaningfulness and happiness.

At the outset, decluttering can seem to be a daunting task because we have heaps of clutter sitting around us and we do not know where to begin and when to stop. Sorting through this lot can exhaust us quickly and dampen our spirits. Therefore, let decluttering be a contemplative activity – set aside a few minutes every day to sort your life. It could be fifteen minutes, half an hour or whatever time you can devote to this activity without feeling burdened.

Start with one thing – it can be your office drawer, car garage, wardrobe, kitchen cabinet or even your laptop or your cell phone. Scan each item as it comes up and ask yourself whether you really need it or not. If it is something that you use often or something that you would surely use in future or else something that has a lot of emotional value, organise it neatly. Things that do not fall into these categories should be donated, recycled, trashed or deleted. Stop at the designated time and resume this activity the next day at your scheduled time. Bit by bit, your surroundings as well as your inner world will get sorted out and you would experience an exquisite transformation.

The Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu said, ‘In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realise there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.’ Therefore, let us start working consistently, cleansing our life of all the clutter, and finding joy in the new alignment.

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Word Meanings:

declutter: remove unnecessary items from, अवनति करना

reclaim: retrieve or recover, प्राप्त करना, वापस मांगना

complicated: consisting of many interconnecting parts or elements, उलझा हुआ

exceedingly: extremely, निहायत, बहुत सा

perpetually: in a way that never ends or changes; constantly, नित्य, सदा

embroiled: involve (someone) deeply in an argument, घपला, उलझाना

humdrum: lacking excitement or variety; dull; monotonous, नीरस, फीका

existence: the fact or state of living or having objective reality, अस्तित्व

fervent: having or displaying a passionate intensity, उत्कट, उत्सुक

abundant: existing or available in large quantities; plentiful, प्रचुर

hustle-bustle: हलचल हलचल

lamenting: mourn (a person's loss or death), विलाप

leisurely: acting or done at leisure, आराम से

concomitant: naturally accompanying or associated, सहगामी

peruse: read (something), typically in a thorough or careful way, सोचना, ध्यान से पढ़ना

accumulate: gather together or acquire an increasing number or quantity of, जमा करना, संचय करें

umpteen: used to emphasize that something has happened on many other occasions, अनेक, कुछ

inconsequential: not important or significant, क्रमरहित

commitments: the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, सौंपना, प्रतिबद्धता

unfulfilled: not carried out or brought to completion, अधूरी

introspect: the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes, आत्मनिरीक्षण

muddled: in a state of bewildered or bewildering confusion or disorder, अव्यवस्थित

cluttered: crowd (something) untidily; fill with clutter, अव्यवस्था, हलचल

repeatedly: over and over again; constantly, बार बार

evanescence: लोप, अदर्शन

aspire: direct one's hopes or ambitions towards achieving something, महत्त्वाकांक्षा करना

retreat: an act of moving back or withdrawing, पीछे हटना, स्थान छोड़ना

Subsequently: after a particular thing has happened; afterward, बाद में

brims: the projecting edge at the bottom of a hat, किनारा

vitality: the state of being strong and active; energy, प्राण

daunting: seeming difficult to deal with in anticipation; intimidating, कठिन

heaps: a disorderly collection of objects placed haphazardly on top of each other, ढेर,

exhaust: drained of one's physical or mental resources; very tired, थक, कमज़ोर

contemplative: expressing or involving prolonged thought, ध्येय, विचारशील

burdened: load heavily, बोझ

Bit by bit: ठोड़ा ठोड़ा

exquisite: extremely beautiful and, typically, delicate, अति सुंदर

dwelling: a house, apartment, or other place of residence, आवास

alignment: arrangement in a straight line, or in correct or appropriate relative positions, संरेखण, सिधाई, पंक्तियोजना