Reshaping life! People who can say that have never understood a thing about life—they have never felt
its breath, its heartbeat—however much they have seen or done. They look on it as a lump of raw
material that needs to be processed by them, to be ennobled by their touch. But life is never a material, a
substance to be molded. If you want to know, life is the principle of self-renewal, it is constantly renewing
and remaking and changing and transfiguring itself, it is infinitely beyond your or my obtuse theories
about it. ― Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago
Self renewal — one part of the secret “formula” for human flourishing.
This is the message of springtime. Renew! Refresh! Time to clean your heart, your
home and your soul. But where do we begin?
Here are a few items on my list:
1. Start the Day Earlier with Family:
I hop out of bed around 6:00 am each day. Sometimes earlier. All is fine and well during the
winter time, but now the sun is rising earlier. There are more hours in the day. I want to
rally my team to wake a bit sooner and enjoy the fact that every minute of daylight is an
extra minute to experience something special as a family.
2. Declutter the Home and Refresh Your Household:
I am the sentimental type. That means I tend to collect things and hold on. I am good
with this, but there are limits. I simply can not keep everything. So I intend to remember
that spring is traditionally the time households fling open the windows, let in light and
fresh air, scrub the house, dust the corners from the months of winter, and declutter.
Time for some spring cleaning. And I am noticing something: Once the junk is gone, I do
not really miss it. Instead, I feel like my household is refreshed.
3. Declutter the Mind, and Renew Your Spirit:
Its good to clean out the house, closet and garage, but I keep finding clutter in my mind
and spirit. It bogs me down. There is too much I need to accomplish with my family. I
can not afford to spend excess energy on negativity or emotional baggage. My goal this
spring is to toss it. With longer days, brighter skies, warmer temperatures, we can often
think more clearly and make those changes that really need to be made in our
lives. That is my plan.
4. Declutter Your Schedule, Renew Your Mental Energy:
Busy, busy, busy. That is a reality of my life. But some busyness is helpful, some
less so. So I am looking for a few time-robbers and giving them the boot. My children are
just too important to me to allow friendly thieves to rob me and them of our time
together. I may not eliminate the problem altogether, but I intend to make a dent.
That’s my list. Hope you find it helpful. I would love to see your list too. Drop me a note
on my Facebook page, and let’s have a conversation about spring cleaning for the
home and soul.
-David McAlvany