Is Your Home What It is Meant to Be?

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Home is the nicest word there is. Well, for many of us it is the nicest word, or at least one of the nicest that reminds us of comfort, rest, love, joy, and peace. But there are people for whom ‘home’ is just another word for chaos. A place where there is nothing but mess and clutter. Instead of a peaceful resting place, some of our homes are a stress trigger that constantly reminds us of our pending cleaning jobs, piles of dirty dishes and clothes, things that need to be sorted out and organized, and unresolved issues that need to be taken care of.

Your home must be a haven for you and your family where you all feel relaxed, calm, safe, valued, and loved. Your home also must reflect your priorities and values as well as your taste and personality. It is the place where you spend most of your time, strengthen your bond with your family members, create a lot of memories, enjoy each other’s togetherness, and teach your children about the value and place of material possessions and importance of relationships.

Is your home a place where you and your family control what you own or does the stuff rule your lives there? Is it a place where you want to return after a long tiring day at work because that’s your personal sanctuary or just because you have nowhere else to go? Do you love walking through your front door? What do you feel – invited or overwhelmed?

There is no argument that creating a home full of love, mercy, compassion, and happiness is the goal of a family life. But sadly, not all families attain that goal. One of the reasons for that as experts say, is actively living in a cluttered home and having to deal with all the stress that come with it. Many of us feel constantly overwhelmed and stressed due to all the unnecessary things we own in our home which negatively affects our relationship with our family members, and most of the times we don’t even realize what causes us that stress.

Various research confirmed the fact that most people don’t use even half the things they buy thinking sometime in future they would need them. They are not only spending their money today on items they will never use, but their desire for instant gratifications is also leading them to accumulate more and more things that take up most of their physical space in their homes leaving them little to no room to relax and unwind comfortably.

And then for some people, a decluttered life can actually be uncomfortable. They might feel bored or uneasy with their new found space and be tempted to fill it with something else. Eventually, they end up having a lot of stuff but minimal satisfaction. When the things we own don’t represent who we really are inside, there is a disconnect and it leaves us feeling empty – searching for something more. We may even question our self-worth when we try to derive happiness from stuff and not from inside.

In a lot of ways in our lives, less is more. Less stuff means less clutter and less stress. It frees up more time, and saves us more energy and substantial amount of money to spend on the things that really matter.

When we simplify our home, our life becomes simpler and more fulfilling as a result of that. We can think clearer, feel better, enjoy more, relax more often, focus on the things that give us long-term pleasure, pay more attention to our loved ones, and do things that are truly meaningful. A study conducted by Princeton University Neuroscience researchers found that a cluttered home environment impedes your ability to focus.

You only have 24 hours a day. You can either devote all of your waking hours to working round the clock and trying to manage your clutter and mess or you can simplify your home, downsize if needed, give purpose to each room, become minimalist, let things go that don’t make life any easier even if they are dear to you, and take control of your everyday life.

Don’t make your home look like a museum, a shop, or worse a junkyard. Your home should reflect who you are as a family and your priorities as a whole. It should serve well the purpose of your comfortable and healthy lifestyle, according to your living standard or choices, of course. So, reclaim your living spaces and restore yourself. When you feel better and happier, people feel better and happier in your presence.

Just because you are home with your loved ones doesn’t necessarily mean you are spending quality time with them. To be emotionally, mentally, and physically present there, you need to free up your mind from all distractions and feel calm and connected. But that’s not going to happen when you have stuff scattered all around screaming for your attention, or you can’t find something when you need it, or when you are not able to move freely from one room to another without hitting something or someone.

Don’t let your chaotic home and a very stressful schedule get in the way of finding happiness in your family life. Declutter, simplify, and organize your place. If, after a long crazy day, you can’t take a little break in one corner of your home – to feel re-charged and re-energized – because you don’t have such a space in your home, entirely dedicated to your relaxation (even though you live in a decent sized house or apartment), or because your bedroom has become your kids’ playroom with toys everywhere, you know you are dealing with a major stress trigger here that directly affects your health and mood.

No matter, how big or small the size of your home is, every corner and every room of your home should be properly used to serve your needs without getting overwhelmed with unnecessary stuff.

Believe me when I say – we don’t need a lot of stuff to make our home cozy, warm, and functional. Tons of beautiful things don’t make our homes look beautiful and inviting either. Rather, it does exactly the opposite. It creates clutter, and clutter gets in the way of a smoothly functioning home.

Please understand that we are not what we own or accumulate. We are what we do, what we believe in, what we love, and what we stand for. Don’t let your home and family be so cluttered that individual relationships are lost.