Time For Spring Cleaning?

I remember when I was young watching a Harlem Globetrotters game with my family.  The crowds’ eyes glued to the court so as not to miss a single trick shot or antic they are known for. At one point during the game, one of the players walked up to a woman court side and picked up her purse. You could tell she was amused and embarrassed as the cameras zoomed in and caught her face gradually turning bright red, one shade at a time. At that point, her son, maybe four years old stood up and got upset because he didn’t realize this was a part of the act and decided to take some action. As the globetrotter slowly walked backwards towards center court, he emptied her bag item by item and placed her things on the hardwood.  That little guy, defending his mama and her stuff, followed him out on the court picking up her belongings one by one like a bird picks up bread crumbs. He walked up to her sun glasses bent down and picked them up, walked two steps to her wallet and bent down and picked that up, then a few more steps to some crumpled up receipts and did the same for every pen, band aid, a hairbrush, dental floss, hand sanitizer and so much more…it was like her purse was a clown car.  He kept leaning down and picking up item after item until his arms were so full he could barely walk and hold all that stuff at the same time. Finally, the globetrotter helped him put everything back in her bag and take it back to his mama and the crowd laughed and cheered and the mom waved to the crowd and gave her little buddy a big kiss and hug.

I like to think about this story because it is super cute and funny to remember that little guy on a mission to get his mom’s stuff back, but also because it is a powerful reminder to me of all the random  and extra stuff we carry around with us-literally and figuratively- and how all that extra makes it really hard to find your keys or other things we need when we need it. We do this with lots of things. Clothes in our closet, stacks of mail, leftovers in the refrigerator. There is a coaching saying “How you show up anywhere is how you show up everywhere.” And just like all the extra stuff we keep in our homes and handbags, we keep a lot of extra junk in our head. Worry, self doubt, anger, pride, jealousy to name a few, all get in the way of remembering to bring our shopping list to the grocery store, actively listening to customers so we can be the best sales person, running/starting a business, being present with our family, and loving our life. Identifying these extras taking up space in our head is one key to mastering our mindset. Self awareness and coaching  helps to uncover the things that are taking up space in our mind and making it challenging to access motivation, confidence, focus, and other things that you want to carry around in order to live a fulfilling and successful life. Is it time for you to clean out your purse? If you want to find out if coaching is right for you, email me at sarah@sarahbaileylifecoach.com or visit www.sarahbaileylifecoach.com.