Trash Day

Every Thursday morning is trash pick up day in my community and we are expected to put out our trash either late Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning (i.e. if you want your trash to be picked up, lol). I find that no matter how much trash is taken out the previous week, there is always more to be disposed off the following week. Such is the story of life!! Sometimes, I act as the trash inspector and I try to catch a glimpse of the size of other people’s trash (don’t ask me why).

Typically, we have a big black trash can for regular trash and a bright yellow can for recyclable items. I realize that for certain households, these cans are not enough. Depending on the weeks activity or the purchases made, there are additional bags and boxes of trash waiting to be picked up. Other times,  you can guess the type of  purchases that have been made  simply by observing the package boxes that once contained those items.

I recall driving into my neighborhood on a Wednesday night and noticing what seemed  like an endless chain of black and yellow  containers. Ahhhhh, it’s trash pickup time, I quipped. I had almost forgotten it was that time of the week again so I hurriedly took mine out upon reaching home. It got me thinking about a few things.  It’s very easy to take out the physical trash we see because we have been programmed into delineating what fits into the black versus the yellow container.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if we applied a similar approach to our lives? One thing is certain about trash; after a while, it begins to create a foul stench. It can also breed disease and attract insects. At the beginning of the year, resolutions  are made and we have every intent on accomplishing those goals, however, by this time of the year, most are tired and less enthusiastic. We have been inundated with life’s happenings and so much “trash” that we begin to lose sight of the bigger picture. Those who are able to accomplish much are mostly people who have managed to “take out the trash” in their lives.

So, what exactly is trash? Trash is anything that is no longer useful to you and is beginning to take up space in your life and/or is becoming a dead weight. Like an athlete in high heels, trash will drastically limit your potential in life. Imagine I showed you my shoe collection and you realize I have a lot of size 7 shoes although I’m a size 8, you would begin to wonder if I was okay. No matter how pretty or expensive these  shoes might be, they would be of no use to me because they don’t fit and I can’t force them to be bigger than they were designed to be.

Perhaps they did fit me at one point in my life when I was younger and had smaller feet but not anymore; they are now a dead weight. My options would be to dispose of them, donate to charity or find an individual who would have need of them. They would be useful to someone else but they are trash and an unwanted weight for me. Sometimes, we hold on to a lot of “trash” because we want to live in the past or because we want to reminisce the “good old days”.  As we cruise towards the latter part of the year, it might be worth sorting out your thoughts, emotions, friendships, relationships, associations, eating habits, etc. to determine what is worth keeping, limiting or surrendering.

There is great growth when we take a moment to reflect, rejuvenate and “take out the trash”. Don’t wait until January to take inventory of your life, you can begin now.