Whether you are ready or not, a new year has arrived. With all your promise and hope, we have begun a new calendar year.

This is the perfect time to clear the clutter out of your home and life to make sure 2009 goes the way you want it to.

Living in one place for a long time, we tend to collect a lot of things that eventually get stuck in drawers and in the back of cabinets, taking up space and filling our homes with “messy energy.”

Clutter Energy is that restless feeling that seems to be saying, “do something, anything, just DO something!”

Starting the new year by clearing this energy opens the door for a more positive flow of feelings, thoughts, and new things to come in.

Start by committing to release at least 50 things in a 24 hour period.

I know it sounds like a lot, but once you get started, you’ll find it’s quick and easy.

Get two boxes or trash bags, fill one with items you can donate if you want and the other is just trash.

Start in the “junk drawer” in the kitchen. How many things have you piled in there thinking you would eventually use them and never would? Release it and enjoy the feeling that comes with letting go.

Move on to other kitchen drawers. Free up old butter tubs you have too many of.

Do you have more coffee cups than will fit in the cupboards? Let these also go.

Go through the rest of the house letting go of magazines, stashes of papers, and the like.

Then go into your room. Do you have clothes that don’t fit you well, you don’t like them and you haven’t worn them in over a year? Let them go.

Dig through the closet and drawers. All socks with holes go in the bag. Underwear that rides or scratches, in the bag.

Drop the shoes too. We tend to hold on to things because “I paid a lot of money for them” or “someone gave them to me.”

Let yourself breathe.

As you clear the physical things out of your space, be aware of the thoughts and habits you have that don’t serve you as well. Are you still holding on to grudges and old hurts and insults? Let them go as you move around the house releasing things.

When you have your fifty articles in 24 hours and you’re still on a roll, commit to another fifty. Take on the garage, Christmas decorations, etc. Move around the garden and let go of anything that just takes up space and doesn’t give you the feeling of well-being that it gave you when you first placed it there.

By doing this exercise, you are not only creating a better appearance for your home, but you are opening up your life to release old emotions, pain, and bad thoughts.

When you combine the physical exercise of clearing things with the spiritual aspect of clearing thoughts and feelings, you will restore balance and harmony to your life.

By instilling this process into your thinking for the new year, you’ll be less likely to cling to excess and hurtful feelings, allowing you to let go much more easily and clutter your energy much less.

Happy New Year.. create each day with joy!