Clutter in the house? How to handle?

Some days  ago I saw my husband  behind a mountain  of papers.Papers, big and small, some fresh and others fading  and whithering away by the passage  of time cluttered  his table. This scene  was actually being  enacted for the last  several days.  I  just saw him everyday taking  out a  new bundle and  frantically  discarding  papers one by one and throwing back back into the same   bundle. Whenever I asked him what  was he  looking for so intently, he  did not even respond. Why was he so  desperate? Finally I could not  bear it  any longer. I pulled away the bundle and repeated  the same query. He then told me that he  was searching for a paper  which he had received from the bank and it had to be submitted  for Income Tax purposes. The main reason was that the  papers had  accumulated over a period of time.  This clutter  had not got  his attention. 

It is a basic human  nature to possess  and  not to throw away  any thing.A housewife   never likes to discard any thing. Specially  every kitchen  has the privilege to  store within its four walls all sorts of  knick  knacks.  Generally the clutter is more obvious  in  the  papers,which include bills, receipts, instruction manuals, guarantee cards,  old newspapers and magazines and what not. The kitchen clutter includes  numberless  bottles, tins and containers  which have no   use in the family but continue to exist  due to  either the family’s emotional attachment   or indifference  towards them. If we ponder how much we have  accumulated  we will be shocked at our own stupidity. The drawers are all full of unwanted things which jump out every time we  open them. Clothes spread  everywhere are a great eye sore. No space is spared. The  doors ,windows  and chairs  silently bear the burden of the clothes. All this overcrowding    is one of the reasons for    stress . A famous writer has said, ’There will be calmness and tranquillity  when external things are removed.”

Our endeavour should be not  to allow things to go on  adding, even if their date has not expired. There are many items  to which we are emotionally attached.It will only be gathering dust  lying  unused.  One must keep in mind that if an article has not been used in the last one year ,it deserves to be discarded. We keep on adding to our wardrobe.The ‘in’ window is   kept open but the ‘out’ window   hardly opens. 
One must realise  that  one way traffic  will only  result in jams.It must be a two way process.You will feel  more relaxed if you firmly discard items which are no longer relevant. 
Then peace of mind will ensue.

Use it up
Wear it out;
Make it do --
Or do without ( Alfred Einstein)

The best way to keep the house  neat and clean is  to out wit your  possessiveness and be more organised. We must ensure that house cleaning is not illusory ie. hide away things from  your sight and dump  them  in some corner of  the house.   

In the words of  Mother Teresa

The more you have, the more you are occupied.
The less you have, the more free you are."

Our motto should be-
'DOWN WITH CLUTTER

 DOWN WITH CLUTTER and again
 DOWN WITH CLUTTER!!!