Why You Should Stop Recycling in 2014

                                           

I recently moved to Oregon from California and as many would imagine, the weather was a big concern moving here. Few weeks in, I am actually enjoying the Portlandia experience. I had absorbed a lot of sunshine from California that will keep me going for a while. As a former graduate student in California, we had to manage the resources we had but moving into a new place necessitated we get a few things we could afford, one of which was a sofa. I was attached to the old one but we did not have much room to keep it, so we eventually donated it ( a form of recycling). My sofa had found a new home. Recycling can be beautiful because it ensures sustainability, conserves resources and eliminates waste. This is great when we think of natural resources, products or material items. Recycling on another note has prevented a lot of people from enjoying the new because they keep recycling old hurts, negative experiences and grudges in their minds. The problem with this is that it leads to emotional congestion.  These results in lack of productivity with symptoms such as frustration, depression, low self-worth and esteem, pessimism, and the whole nine yards. Just like I had to let go of my old sofa to create room for the new, we need to bring closure to the wounds we have been recycling for a very long time. It’s time to let it go if we want to enjoy the new. Not the basement or any other storage place, let it go.

If you’ve ever put in batteries into a remote control or any gadget, the manufacturers often advice not to mix old batteries with new ones in order to get optimum performance. Similarly, harboring the past contaminates the future. For example, imagine seeing a dead fly in your glass of water. You don’t recycle it, you eliminate it.  If you truly want to have a new year and not take any excess baggage with you from the past, then you have to have look within and ask yourself, “What do I have to stop recycling in my life? What are the things I need to have closure on? Who are the people I need to forgive or give a second chance. Who are the people in my life I have to say goodbye to? I know you may have attachments to the past because you have worked so hard and invested a ton, but you never know what you may be missing until the new arrives. I hope you stop recycling the past in 2014 and start the New Year with fresh rigor and expectation.