Here in New Jersey, lawns are being mowed, bushes and shrubs are being pruned and homes are being cleaned and aired out. Garages are purged of unwanted and stored “stuff”, and then organized along with cars being cleaned and waxed. Its springtime and the yearly ritual of shedding the old and bringing in the new with a “re-birth” of our surroundings are upon us. The days are becoming longer and warmer and people are stepping outside with a renewed sense of purpose.

Everyone is taking stock…of their lives, their belongings and their mindsets. It seems that springtime brings out the desire for a new perspective with some folks re-evaluating and re-generating mundane lives while others continue to live happily and quite contentedly in the status quo. I believe it’s a good thing that we routinely step back and look at our lives with a fresh set of eyes as there are very often things that we need to keep…and things we need to jettison.

I want things in my life that add value….people, belongings and most importantly emotions. We very often maintain our attachments to things that continue to suck the life out of us, (see my blog on “attachments”). And, these unhealthy attachments can keep us from feeling true joy and peace. Unfortunately, some find a skewed sense of comfort in maintaining relationships that keep them from the joy and peace I just mentioned. Maybe it’s the coziness of familiarity or maybe it’s just that they don’t know (or, are afraid) how to rid themselves of it. As I said, these unhealthy relationships can take the form of people, belongings and personal emotions. Are you one of these people? Ask yourself…is this (enter person/thing/emotion here) adding value and true enjoyment in my life, or is it slowly killing me? In either case, you may have to do some reassessing.

I pray that you’re walking in true contentedness throughout your life’s experiences, as that is how it is supposed to be. Let me repeat that…you are supposed to be content in all your experiences, with true peace and joy.

So…are you?