Most people have the habit of cleaning out their wardrobe. Some do it from one year to the next, others do it with the change of season. However, the truth is that if we do not clean out, clothes and objects accumulate, taking up all the space we have available. Something similar happens in our mental wardrobe, but we almost never realize when it is necessary to clean out; on the contrary, we continue to fill it to the brim.
What’s in your mental closet?
When we talk about the mental closet, we usually think of memory. However, the truth is that our memory has its own resources to make room for new memories and discard all those that are not important. In reality, the inhabitants of our mental closet are beliefs, emotions, traumas, stereotypes, prejudices and values.
Throughout our lives, we form a conception of the world and how things should be. We form an idea of who we are and where we are headed. However, over the years we live through many experiences that can translate into erroneous beliefs, stereotypes or even traumas.
These experiences can become a very heavy burden. In fact, they are like those clothes that we never wear and that only serve to occupy a place in the closet. That is why, from time to time it is necessary to open the doors and take inventory, see what we can use and what is useless, we must learn to throw away what we do not need to make room for new things.
In reality, the problem with irrational beliefs, stereotypes and traumas is that they do not leave room to fully experience positive experiences, but rather they become entrenched in the unconscious and fill us with bitterness, resentment, anger and frustration. For this reason, from time to time you should ask yourself what beliefs prevent you from growing, what traumas or dissatisfactions are harming your opportunities and what stereotypes keep you tied to the past.
These are all things you don’t need in your mental closet. However, there will also be many things you want to keep because they will help you build your future or because they simply make you feel good. These could be pleasant memories, values that identify you as a person or those positive thoughts about yourself.
How to do mental cleansing?
When cleaning out a closet, there are people who cling to things and do not want to throw anything away. As a result, at the end of the cleaning, the closet is still as cluttered as before. Obviously, this is a useless attitude that only serves to consume energy in vain.
– Letting go. To cleanse your mind, it is important to activate the “letting go” mode. That is, to go into your closet with the attitude that it is necessary to leave certain things in the past in order to move on to the future. Life involves a continuous flow, and resisting this is counterproductive. No matter where those negative or harmful ideas, beliefs or emotions come from, you must leave them in the past.
– Really experiencing the experiences. Sometimes, all we need to come to terms with a trauma is to experience it again, since many times what we do is hide it or deny it. In this process, the experiences linked to the problem acquire a new meaning and the negative emotions stop harming us because we accept them as part of our emotional past, which exists but does not disturb us.
– Replace empowering beliefs. When there are irrational ideas or negative thoughts, it is better to erase them by replacing them with positive ideas. For example, the idea: “I am a valuable person” could take the place of the belief: “I am worthless.” Obviously, this is not a change that happens overnight. Consider that you have had a closet full of useless things for a long time, so you will need patience and perseverance to clean it out.
