As the New Year approaches, you may find yourself pondering the past year and you may be counting your blessings or thinking about what you could have done differently.
If you're like me, you might do a little of both.
Whatever the case, it's important to start the New Year off on a positive, hope-filled note.
This can include everything from stocking the refrigerator to clearing out old junk from the closets. If you miss the January 1st deadline, don't worry: the Chinese New Year isn't until the third week of January, so you've still got time.
To greet the New Year, set aside a couple of hours to give your house, bedroom, or office a New Year Blitz. Just remember, you are inviting a very special guest to your house: The New Year. So treat your house the way you would a very important dignitary. This is a new year of your life so welcome it in a grand way.
Take the list below in hand and check off the items one by one. Remember to get everyone in the house in on the act.
OUT WITH THE OLD
1. De-clutter
Grab a laundry basket. Next, set a timer and take it with you from room to room. Set it for five minutes. Now, start throwing out old papers, magazines, empty bottles of shampoo from the bathroom, old clothes you know you'll never wear again! Do it.
Got CDs you never listen to? Throw those out or donate them to charity. Have some old coffee mugs that don't match or odd drinking glasses still hanging around in your cabinets? Pitch 'em.
When in doubt, throw it out. Don't forget to look under the bed, too! And toss that lipstick you haven't worn in two years! Remember to clean out the pantry, too, and toss that half-empty box of Rice Krispies that's gone stale.
2. Sweep or vacuum
Get the old energy out by making the floors clean.
3. Do the laundry
Don't have dirty clothes hanging around. You can throw in a load or two while you declutter. Be sure to fold and put the clean clothes away.
4. Clean the bathroom
Make it sparkle. You don't want a nasty mess to greet the next year of your life!
5. Empty all trashcans
Don't want last years' trash hanging around, do you? Toss, toss, toss.
6. Clean out the refrigerator
Got a half-empty jar of apple butter? Get rid of it. You don't want to go into the New Year with old food or a moldy science project lurking in the fridge. Check out the fridge makeover and see if it doesn't inspire you! http://tinyurl.com/
7. Clear out visual clutter
Too much stuff everywhere? Clear off the counters in the bathrooms and kitchen. Clear off your desk and dust it. Pitch the sticky notes and papers and things taped everywhere! You can do it. Don't forget the refrigerator! Make it a blank slate.
Make as much space as possible. You cannot bring in new things if there is no room for it and we want a fantastic year, right? Then make your space "open" for the abundance of the New Year!
8. Yard work
Make sure the yard is picked up and the front door step is swept and clear.
9. Change the sheets and towels
Put clean sheets on all the beds on New Year's Eve and clean towels in the bathroom and kitchen. New sheets are even better.
10. Clean the car
This is what gets you around during the year. Drive through a car wash, take out the trash and do a quick cleaning.
All done? Wow, doesn't that feel good! Now you're ready for the next step.
IN WITH THE NEW!
1. Fill your pantry and kitchen
Stock the refrigerator with food and make sure the pantry is also stocked. It is bad feng shui to have an empty refrigerator and pantry. If you have canisters in the pantry or on the countertops, be sure to fill these.
2. Got citrus?
Oranges are excellent symbols for the New Year and the Chinese often celebrate the New Year by rolling oranges (symbols of gold) into the house. Place a big bowl of 8, 9, or 10 (the numbers of prosperity!) oranges in the living room or central location in the house next to dishes of nuts or candies to symbolize an abundant, fruitful home.
3. Buy a new plant
Put a beautiful new plant in the East (health & family relationships) sector of your house or office to symbolize a healthy beginning. You can also display some beautiful flowers here to symbolize your good health in the coming year.
4. Welcome good news
Place a golden bell in the NW corner of your home, office, or bedroom to bring good tidings from helpful people. Like old school bells? If so, place one of these in the NW corner of your yard for good news from helpful people.
5. Hang up new calendars
What better way to greet the New Year than by throwing out the old one? Take down all of last years' calendars.
6. Fill your wallet
You don't want to go into the New Year with an empty wallet. Put some money in your wallet -- or better yet -- go and buy a new wallet (red is the best!) or purse and start your financial off with new energy!
7. Invite a toad to your house
Place an old, broken clay pot upside down next to a water spout so a toad can make its home here. Toads are believed to invite money into the household; they're especially nice by the door. You can also place figurines of toads by the door.
8. Feed the birds
Birds are excellent feng shui and believed to bring good news. Fill your feeders or put out a feeder for the New Year.
9. Have fun and celebrate
Fun is good feng shui. A happy vibrant home or space is a good space, so plan a party of some kind of happy gathering. Remember, a home or office with good feng shui is easy to spot it's the one where everyone goes and doesn't want to leave. Make your space that kind of place.
FENG SHUI FOR YOURSELF
1. Avoid resolutions. Begin with the belief that all is as it should be right now, that you are perfect already. Instead, incorporate one or two small changes. Even small steps can have a big impact.
2. Count the blessings of you. Write down 100 things you like about yourself. Do it. Trust me, there's a lot more than 100 great things about you. For starters, you're reading a feng shui Ezine. That tells me you're open-minded and willing to try new things.
3. Say what you want in small ways. Want more love? Sign off all your emails with "Love, Sally." Or, maybe it's friendship you want, sign off as "Your friend." Give what it is you want this year.
4. Be friendly. Friendliness draws people and good circumstances to you. Driving through Texas I often see signs on the road that say, "Drive Friendly, the Texas Way." I love those signs. Wave and smile at people you pass as you drive like you did when you were a kid. Move over and let people pass and when someone lets you in traffic or allows you to pass, wave at them. Give a trucker a break. See a big rig signaling to merge? Let him in.
5. Do that one thing you know you've been putting off. There is nothing worse than having something hanging over your head. There's usually one thing that gets in your way of feeling successful and like you have a handle on life -- so take care of that one thing. Go on. You know what it is. Get it done once and for all.
6. Be nice to yourself. What would make life nicer for you? Find ways to pamper and love yourself. I like hot tea in the wintertime, but I got tired of running downstairs to the kitchen. So, I set up a little tea tray upstairs with a hot water pot and an assortment of teas and some of my favorite ginger thin cookies. It's a little treat that tells me "I love me."
7. Be nice to others. Feed the birds, set up a recycling center, volunteer. There are so many ways to be nice to others -- from donating money to good causes to mowing an elderly neighbor's lawn. I like to walk around my neighborhood and pick up trash to keep the neighborhood clean.
8. Set a goal. Making wish lists of what you would like to do is wonderful because just the act of writing things down makes the wishes more concrete, taking it from the random firings of neurons in your brain to real tangible words on paper. It's amazing what happens by doing just that one act. Put the list where you can see it and take steps toward each wish. By next year, it might surprise you how many of these things come true.
From Red Lotus Letter info@redlotusletter.com via aweber.com.Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook "The Cash Register at Your Front Door" visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!
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