I have gotten rid of many things in my house, even things that at one point I thought I needed. But up until now I have held on to all of my old nursing notes and textbooks.
With the internet I can find resources regarding both of these subjects much quicker than I could by looking through my notes. Not to mention that they are only 4 years old and already becoming out-of-date.
But, if I throw them away, then I am truly closing that chapter of my life off. And, for me, it's been a chapter of my life that doesn't feel quite finished. Since leaving nursing school at the end of Year 3 and not being able to return, I have always felt that chapter remained open, unfinished. I was always working towards completing my degree or working on a plan to get me closer. I wasn't really an LPN, I was an RN in LPN clothing.
Well, today, I am stating: I am an LPN. I work as an LPN, I am registered as an LPN, and I quite enjoy being an LPN.
If I become an RN, that would be great. It would be wonderful to accomplish that task. But, it is simply something to make my work better, not to make it legitimate. Keeping old school notes doesn't let me room to add any new notes. They are just hanging on, so that I don't have to close that chapter. I don't have to move on and let the past go.
Sometimes clutter can be a representation of what is going on in our lives, not just what happens in our house. Today I am getting rid of some of that "mind - clutter." Maybe you see yours, lurking behind your own cabinet door.
Do you keep clutter that is holding you back? What about "mind - clutter"?
Similarly, I've held on to a lot of my teacher training notes thinking it might be helpful in my role as an Education Assistant. I'm slowly purging some of it, but I am definitely holding on to more than I should, that I probably won't ever use. Life is emptier and freer without it, but that act of purging is so hard..
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