Kelley, a young mother with three young children, was struggling to keep up with meeting all of her children's, husband's, pets' and household needs. By the time she took care of school and after-school activities, medical and dental appointments, shopped for food and purchased medications – putting a desperate meal on the table in the evening was almost an impossibility.
Additional she was always running low on energy and sleep so she often found herself catching every bug the children brought home from school. While she had all the self-confidence and self-assurance she could do everything that needed to be done, her energy levels continued to drop and her ability to care for the family in the way she would like was being compromised.
Her home décor was pleasant, comfortable and clean. However the flooring was a very dark low energy color, the walls in some rooms bordered on being dark and the lighting in the hallways, the family room and through the house was quite dim. The dark flooring and the dim lighting were adding to her already low energy. Further evaluation of the home revealed a well organized and orderly public area to the home but much clutter in the hallway leading to the bedrooms and even further chaos and clutter in the master bedroom.
The plan that follows really helped her energize her surroundings which created for her more positive support and uplifting energy. She felt better, could take better care of her family and even had a little time left over a couple of days per week to do creative things that nurtured her so she could rebuild her personal energy.
The Plan
This plan was created with budgetary and personal energy restrictions in mind. By taking one step at a time Kelley was able to work her way way each step without further reducing her energy, depleting her budget and taking too much time away from her young family. This slowly paced plan for change was something she could deal with and really worked for her without creating more of a struggle and energy drain.
The first step was to bring lots of fresh light into all of the rooms in the house. Where possible curtains were opened daily to allow sunshine in and in rooms without such windows, lighting was either installed or lamps were purchased. Of greatest importance were the rooms where she spent most of her time and the hallway to the bedrooms.
At least three upward reaching torchi lamps were placed in the family room to lift the energy from the dark almost depressed yin energy of the flooring and the walls to a much lighter higher level of yang energy.
Next the walls and flooring were evaluated for change. Even though replacing the dark colored low energy flooring was not in her immediate budget she learned that using a mid range green or blue would lift the energy in all of the rooms while still being a calming color for her three young children. In the meantime she did make an effort to also paint some of the walls a much lighter shade of their existing color. By just lightening the color she lifted the energy but was able to maintain all of the same furnishings.
Bright colorful throw pillows were added to further raise the yang energy in the family room. She used shades of yellow, peach and terra cotta which are also good relationship colors further energizing her relationships with her children and husband.
The third step was the most difficult for her. The clutter leading down the hallway to the bedrooms was a constant energy drainer. And the piles and piles of stuff in the master bedroom created much chaotic energy leaving her subconscious mind constantly on overload as it focused on all of the undone work while she tried to sleep. The piles of clutter plus too many pieces of extra furniture from other rooms lead to not only less restful sleep but a further energy drain.
This step would be a huge undertaking as the stacks of stuff was deposits from many other rooms as well as those that belonged in the bedroom – the same was true for the things in the hallway.
The plan encouraged her to take small steps to clear the clutter by selecting three days of the week to work on a specific area only for a specific period of time. Starting the process in the hallway would provide her and the family the quickest results because fresh new energy would be encouraged to enter all the bedrooms en route. Once the hallway was completed, she moved on to the bedroom.
By working on the bedroom in small sections she would not get overly tired and could still care for her family but would also make steady progress at clearing out the clutter. Because Kelley carefully sorted through everything and decided either to keep it and put it away, or give it away or toss it, it was a slow process. But, because she could see progress and was finally getting in control of her sleeping area, she found she was sleeping more soundly and feeling better when she got up the next morning.
She also found she had more energy to do things with her children. And it was no longer such a struggle to handle everything but was quickly becoming joyful.
Change, when it is the right change and is put together with a good plan really does work. In this case, creating more than one bedroom in the room, the ensuite bathroom has a shower and a refrigerator.
The result of this type of change is having more personal energy, improving overall well-being, saving time and lower stress, plus caring for yourself and others with ease. Change that really works results in living a life filled with more joy and less stress.
© Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2008