What Have You Eliminated?

Years ago, prior to starting my current business, a dear friend of mine commented on how I was an "eliminator". She was speaking about my food choices and I see now how that has crept into every area of my life.

I've always been a picky eater and would never try something if I didn't like the looks of it, including childhood delights, like a fast food hamburger. That was mostly about the smell of it, and as an adult, I am grateful to have never introduced it to my diet.

Over the past few years, I've started challenging myself when I felt resistance to giving something up. I would have an idea and would feel an overwhelming "No, I CAN'T give that up!" Somewhere in those thoughts I didn't like that I felt beholden to these things, so I had to see if I could live without it. What I learned was valuable and has inspired me to take on my limiting beliefs in other areas of my life.

My biggest accomplishment, and certainly the hardest, was sugar. I remember feeling sooooo depressed with just of the idea of giving up sugar. That is what really impacted me, that I was allowing something that could rot my teeth and wreck my insides to control my feelings. It's been over 17 months since giving up sugar and the best thing to come of it is my new found appreciation of fruit, a much healthier habit.  

Here's a list of what I have given up over the past few years:

-gluten

-sugar

-dairy

-red meat

-alcohol

-wearing black

-chemical cleaning supplies

-shopping for extraneous toiletries/cosmetics (my form of clutter)

I'm sharing this with you because I see how this parallels with my dear clients who are struggling with letting go of the items that are overwhelming them. The reason they have called me is that they are looking for freedom. What I have experienced from "giving up" all of these things is simplicity, ease and freedom from the many decisions that have to be made each day. I actually feel like I have more in my life: more freedom, more abundance and healthier habits. Letting go of physical items creates space for many things, mainly space in your brain.

I don't come from the standpoint that everyone should give up these things, nor do I think they need to be given up permanently. I challenge you to think about this: what is one thing you think you can't live without? Many people fear not having enough, and believe they don't have enough, especially when they are being suffocated by their belongings.

Anytime anything seems too hard, I think about the fact that I gave up ingesting more than 80 grams of candy everyday and if I could do that, I can do anything. It's so empowering. So, please share with me: What is the one thing you are ready to eliminate?

The photo above is one of my longtime favorites of my great-grandfather. This was probably sometime in the mid-1920's and as my grandmother once told me, they were in White Plains for the day, a retreat from the city. When I asked why he was chopping down the tree, she said "For exercise!", like I should have known.