How long has it been since you cleaned out your closet? Most of us have our closets stuffed with items of clothing and paraphernalia which existed in our lives at one point or another – and many items have been entirely forgotten.

Clothing in our society is fashion and therefore of a temporary reign in our lives. We add one thing after another and then complain there’s no more room in our closets. We add but do we always subtract as we add? Relax. This is not a math quiz.

Our closets can be considered symbols of our minds. A cluttered closet could mean a cluttered mind. This same theory can apply to our dresser drawers (or even our desk drawers), most especially the top drawer, often the bottom drawer.

I recently moved and this was a wonderful time to remember to clean out those closets. A good exercise is to clean out a closet and while doing so, say to yourself: I am cleaning out the closets of my mind.

Take everything out of the closet. Examine each item and ask, “Is this item still useful?” Or, “Have I used this item in the last six months or year?” “Do I have to keep this worn item because I’m afraid I won’t be able to replace it?”

In order to make room for the new (whether it’s new clothes or new thoughts and ideas), we must release the old and the outworn. This is true for physical items as well as for mental ideas. I go through my closets every six months or so and anything I know I won’t use again either gets sold, sent to the thrift shops, or I give them away. It’s no longer useful to me and is taking up precious room.

The sweater I was in love with three years ago is now a color I don’t care for. Do I want to keep it around on the chance that I may need it one day? Not at all! I’m well aware that I’ll always be able to buy a new sweater when I need to.

Did I always feel this way? No! I grew up during the Depression of the 1930s and in extreme poverty. So it took me many years to realize and accept that I was the only person responsible in my world for my lack of prosperity.

Watch how you’re feeling while you’re cleaning out those closets this month. Are you doing it with joy and anticipation of the space you are allowing in your life? Or are you stuck in the mental system of “not having” and scoffing in disbelief that the abundance of the Universe is available to everyone, including you?

Let’s affirm: I give myself the green light to move forward and to joyously embrace the new.