Plug Your Leak (PYL) #1 - Things You Tolerate

So, you are now aware that there are 3 different kinds of things that we simply tolerate, or put up with in our life

• physical objects or things we can control
• people or situations with people
• things or situations out of our control

Let's talk about the first category - the clear things we can control.

I'm travelling this week (which is why there's been a lag in posts) and one of the things that drives me bonkers is having to wait - a reality in travelling these days - in a place where I am bombarded by the TV. Usually it is tuned to something I find tremendously distasteful and I can't seem to escape it. Usually I would classify this in the category of things I can't control, but that is no longer true! I now have a handy little device called TV B Gone and voila my toleration is no more. I can easily (and surreptitiously) turn off any TV in my midst.

Now, wouldn't you know it. I have not encountered any obnoxious TVs in my trip so far. The TV B Gone seems to be working even in the bottom of my bag!

As I thought about this little device and how I was going to use it this trip, I realized that I had just taken care of a big travel toleration for me. No longer will I feel trapped in TV jail and have my energy leaking out and turning into frustration, irritation and crankiness.

So, what action can you take to eliminate a toleration from your list?

• schedule clutter busting an hour a day
• hire a house cleaner
• get a great friend to come over and help with yardwork
• take your car to the car wash weekly
• buy or create just the right containers for your stuff
• create a filing system that works for you

Pick a toleration or two from your list and eliminate it today! You can you know. It's not that hard. Usually what gets in your way is overwhelm - you just don't know quite where to start. The key is to break it down into small bite size pieces. Don't think about organizing your whole house, think about cleaning out the hall closet. If that's too big, then just do one shelf. Bite size = do-able action. And then, a funny thing happens - you sometimes get going and find your energy increasing and increasing and you get joy out of your process and lo and behold 3 closets are cleaned out and you can't wait to do the rest!

Let's hear from you. How have you been successful at eliminating those things in your life that you used to put up with?