Today we’re going to talk about decluttering your mind and getting unstuck to experience life breakthrough, because getting stuck or being stuck doesn’t feel good, right? I will never forget the summer of 2021 when my family and I went on this incredible two week long trip. We called it the Southwest tour, and we treked all over Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. We traveled over 1,300 miles on that trip, and we took in the most incredible and memorable sites including Hoover Dam, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon.
For the ultimate surprise, I booked a tour for my family to go deep down to the very bottom of the Grand Canyon to swim in the Colorado River and to see the Grand Canyon from a perspective which very few people ever get the chance to experience. It was supposed to be the biggest adventure of the whole trip, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. After spending the day at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, taking in the sights and swimming in the Colorado River as planned, our tour bus broke down and left us completely stranded, and with zero means of communication. Let’s just say there are no cell phone towers at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and I can verify that firsthand.
It was 110 degrees, no joke, and there we were with our family of five, our tour guide, and a few local Native American people who happened to be at the bottom of the Grand Canyon because they were routinely testing the water in the Colorado River. So the entrance to the one road leading down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon happens to be in protected Indian territory, and so you have to have special permission to access the road. Long story short, we ended up squishing into the pickup trucks with the locals hoping and praying that we could make it back up and out of the Grand Canyon before nightfall, which we did barely. It makes for a great story though, and we laugh about it now.
The views and experience of that adventure were memorable, to say the least, but at the end of the day, being stuck at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with zero communication is probably not something that I would ever choose to do again, plain and simple. Being stuck really just doesn’t feel good.
Have you ever felt stuck in your own mind? Like you were stranded at the bottom of a deep canyon with no way out? Like there’s all this clutter and you’re just swimming in it? Maybe it’s stress and worry and anxiety or thought overload. Maybe it’s unforgiveness tied to some past event that keeps replaying in your mind. Maybe it’s the comparison game that’s rattling through your thoughts and keeping you stuck. Those are some of the top things that I see women struggling with when it comes to mental clutter. So today, I want to help you to dive into some of that clutter in your mind and I want to help you explore how you can break through it.
Take Inventory of What You’re Consuming
Let’s start with stress, worry, anxiety, or you might call it thought overload. This one just plagues us, especially as women; we stress and worry about everything. The word anxiety has kind of become almost a popular buzzword in our culture today, like everyone has anxiety, everyone has thought overload happening. And we’re like, why is this happening? Why am I experiencing so much stress and worry and anxiety? I think that one of the biggest lies in Christianity today is this myth that God won’t give you more than you can handle. Because the truth is, actually, He tells us in the Bible, that we will experience more than we can handle on our own. And that we need to learn to lean into Him instead of ourselves, and instead of our own understanding. And if you’re honest with yourself, when do you lean into him the most? It’s when you are going through worry, anxiety, stress, it’s when you are battling through those tough seasons when you’re wrestling with doubt and worry and fear. That is when you fall down on your knees, and you lean in and look up. And that’s when and where and how you draw closer to God. That’s where and how you grow.
We are not promised as believers, that it will be easy, that it will be perfect. But we are promised that God will be with us. He sees you. He loves you. He knows you. He calls you by name. I think that, above all else, we have to trust and know that God is with us, and that he will take care of us. We will walk through some hard things, there will be some stress and worry and anxiety. But the Lord will not leave you, He will be there with you, and we have to know that and trust that. And that is what helps us walk through those seasons. Matthew 6:25-34 says, “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky. They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any one of you add one moment to his lifespan by worrying? And why do you worry about your clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow. They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the first furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you, you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, what will we eat? or what will we drink? Or what will we wear? For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Do you catch that your heavenly Father knows your needs? But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I was just recently having a conversation with my daughter about this and how women have a tendency to worry because we have this need and desire all the time to be in control, to feel secure, to know what’s going on, and to know what’s coming next, and to know that 10 years from now that we will still be provided or taken care of, that everything will be okay. Especially financially, it can be very difficult not to focus on and worry about these things. But God tells us don’t worry, don’t fear, cast your anxiety on me. He’s not saying to be lazy. In fact, it tells us in the book of Proverbs that we are called to work. We are called to be diligent and to be good stewards. This isn’t about sitting on your couch and watching TV and expecting groceries and money to show up at your door. That’s probably not going to happen. But He knows your needs, He knows your heart, He sees you, He knows you, and He calls you by name.
Let’s talk about thought overload for just a second. Maybe you’re wrestling with that right now and I have to ask you the question, what are you consuming? Because thought overload stems from what you are consuming. And I’m talking about what you are putting in front of your eyes and your ears that is sinking into your heart and your mind and taking root and planting seeds. What kind of music are you listening to? What kind of media are you consuming? What are you watching on TV? What are you searching for on YouTube? What are you searching for inside of that Google search bar? What are you consuming on TikTok and Instagram? What are your friends saying? What beliefs are you allowing to be fed into your mind through all these avenues? Perhaps it’s causing thought overload.
Here’s the thing, friend, whatever you are believing, and repeatedly thinking, your brain will look for ways to back that up as truth. In other words, the seeds that are being planted in you through what you’re consuming, they are taking root. So I want you to be cautious and be aware of these things. Spend a little bit more time just being still. Get out in nature, spend some quiet time with God, put your feet in the grass, open your Bible, sit and rest in Him and just be still and quiet with no distractions – cell phone in the other room, TV off, and just listen. Jesus actually modeled that to us, we see Him time and time again, going off on his own and just simply spending quiet time alone with his Heavenly Father to get his own cup refilled, to glean wisdom, perhaps to quiet the thought overload that was maybe going through his mind. I don’t know if Jesus dealt with any stress, worry or anxiety but if He did, I would certainly imagine that quiet time where He just got along with the Heavenly Father is what would quiet that for Him. That’s what quiets it for us. So just be aware of these things and strive to spend more time with the Lord than you are consuming some of these other things that are maybe leading to your thought overload and are feeding that stress, worry and anxiety.
Forgiveness Will Set You Free
The second one is unforgiveness. Maybe unforgiveness is cluttering up your mind right now. Maybe you have some unforgiveness tied to some past event that just keeps replaying in your mind. This one is tough, and I know that, but forgiveness is so important. The thing about forgiveness is that it frees your own heart. It doesn’t validate whatever it is that was done to you. It doesn’t validate whoever it is that hurt you, but forgiveness frees your heart.
I will never forget a few years back when we were up in Wisconsin, my husband and I went through a wild twist turn of events, a God thing, no doubt. We were going to take this fishing trip and we ended up on this particular fishing boat with this fishing guide, and this gentleman and I for the next three hours ended up in a very deep conversation sharing life stories and he ended up downloading his whole upbringing to me, which was terrible. He’d had a lot of issues with his dad and there was abuse and all these things and I was sharing my whole life story with him about my parent’s divorce when I was little and some of the hurt that I had walked through in my life and different things in high school and boys that I had dated and it got deep. Never in a million years would I have guessed I was going to end up on a fishing boat with a man I did not know with my husband sitting beside me not saying a word. My husband is normally the one that’s talking a lot and I’m normally the quiet one in a situation like this. And I’m spilling my heart and this gentleman is spilling his heart to me. The funny thing is, God knew He had us on that particular fishing boat, and at the end of our conversation, he finally turned to me and said, “How were you able to forgive?” I’d been telling him about the importance of forgiveness throughout our conversation, and I simply said, “I found Jesus.” And I then proceeded to tell him about salvation and how Jesus died for me and for him, and how God forgives us even when we don’t deserve it, that there was a brokenness between us and our Creator, our heavenly Father, and that through Jesus, we are able to experience forgiveness and restoration. And we are able to restore that relationship with our Heavenly Father and receive eternal life, all because of Jesus. And I told him how we can forgive because we can follow God’s model for forgiveness. And I told him about how Jesus said in Mark 11:25, “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you, your wrongdoing.”. And how Jesus said, not only are we to forgive, but Jesus also said, “Love your enemies. Do what is good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” in Luke 6:27-28.
The thing about forgiveness is that it frees our heart. The Bible says that unforgiveness is an unforgivable sin. And I think the reason for that is because God, who loves us, who knows best, who wants the best for us, He knows that holding on to unforgiveness is rotting our heart and soul away. It’s so important that you learn to forgive, that you experience forgiveness so that your heart can be free, so that you can experience peace. And if you’re holding on to unforgiveness today, no matter how horrible the situation or the person might have been, whatever happened to you, you’re giving all the power to that situation and to that person, by holding on to it. Forgiveness frees you, friend. When we forgive and release, the Lord promises to take it from there. And I promise you that He is capable of healing and restoring. He’s kind of in the business of that, of healing and restoration. Forgiveness equals freedom.
Contentment is Always Better Than Comparison
Perhaps the third and final thing that is possibly cluttering your mind right now is the comparison game, that ugly, nasty comparison game. A while back, I was just feeling unhappy, unsettled, and just frustrated like something was wrong or off or missing or empty. Like there was just this little bit of a hole in my heart somehow. I build up expectations in my mind of how something should go, the way things should look, the way I would feel. And I ended up feeling let down and disappointed. And the thing is, it was a direct result of my own unrealistic expectations. These crazy expectations that we come up with, where do they come from? I think they come from comparison. Where does discontentment come from? I think it definitely comes from comparison. Let me tell you, contentment will always be better than comparison.
How often do we look at other people’s lives, other people’s houses, businesses, their kids, their clothes, dare I say it, their husband, and compare? And how often do we feel discontent and dissatisfied because of it? I’ve done it too. I sometimes have allowed myself, unfortunately, to look at other homeschool moms on social media or other people’s work from home businesses on social media, and I think to myself, I’m so far behind. And unfortunately, I have allowed myself to go down that rabbit hole before. I’m not perfect, I’m just like you over here on this side of the microphone. Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about it though. The Bible says that Jesus is what satisfies. It says that contentment is found in Christ, not in comparison, not on social media, not in our longing for more stuff. No, there’s only one who can satisfy and we’ve got to stop looking to others. Stop comparing, stop looking around, stop seeking out what other people have. Cut off the thing that’s causing you to compare, friend. You’re wearing yourself out unnecessarily playing the comparison game. Jesus says, “Come to me, weary and heavy burdened, I will give you rest.”
Maybe you’re unhappy in your marriage right now, and you’re wishing you had a different husband. But maybe that’s because you’re comparing your husband to the highlight reel of someone else’s husband, and maybe you’re expecting your husband to fill a void that he was never even meant to fill. The truth is, everyone’s husband has off days where they speak harsh words. Everyone’s husband has annoying habits like snoring, leaving their underwear on the floor or leaving their shoes out in the middle of the floor. That’s the truth. Tell yourself the truth and stop comparing to someone else’s highlight reel.
Maybe you’re disappointed that your work from home business isn’t growing as fast as someone else’s right now. Admittedly, I’ve wrestled with that. But maybe that’s because you or I haven’t taken the time to partner with God and ask for His blessing and direction. What would it look like if you cheered someone else on and were genuinely happy for their success, and you and your business were blessed as a direct result of your generous and genuine thoughts?
Maybe you’re feeling like you don’t measure up, like you’re not as good as everyone else. But maybe that’s because you’re scrolling social media, and that’s become an idol and an addiction in your life. And social media is causing you to fall back into the trap of playing the comparison game over and over and over again. Cut it off, delete the app. The Bible says in Matthew 5:29 to cut off the thing that is causing you to stumble. It says, “So if your eye, even your good eye, causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”
The bottom line is that the comparison game is taking you nowhere fast. And so the quicker that you become aware of it and the quicker that you cut it off, whatever and however that might look for you, then the sooner that you’ll be able to take steps forward in your life. My sweet friend, when it comes to experiencing breakthrough, and decluttering your mind, personal responsibility is key. You have to know that you do have the power to change your thoughts. You have the power to choose to kick stress and anxiety to the curb because you have the power to release it to God. 1 Peter 5:7 has been a life verse for me that I have clung to throughout my entire life, year after year after year. It says, “Give all your worries and anxiety to the Lord because He cares for you.”
Sis, we have to let go of this stuff if we want to experience contentment and peace and life breakthrough. And I’m here to tell you that you have that power friend. You can choose to simplify your thoughts, you can choose to forgive, you can choose to stop comparing and you can choose to be content. So stop arguing with your husband. Stop worrying about what so and so said or did. Stop playing the victim. Tell yourself the real story and try honor instead. Treat other people how you want to be treated. Offer up that forgiveness that you desire, that you would want if it were the other way around. Smother people in honor, they won’t even know what to think when you do that. Shift your expectations. Practice gratitude. Let’s get you unstuck. The little known secret is that you – yes, YOU have the power to do it.
If you need a little more guidance on how to get there then I am so here for you friend. I invite you to save a seat at my free life breakthrough workshop. It’s called, How to Achieve a Life Breakthrough When You Don’t Even Know Where to Start. And inside of that free workshop. I’m going to cover all of this and so much more. You can check out that workshop at lifebreakthroughnow.com
Friend, it’s time to get unstuck. It’s time to move forward. It is time for you to experience life breakthrough. It’s time to declutter your mind. It’s time to grow. And we’re going to do all of those things and more inside of my free life coaching workshop. I am here for you, I am on your side. The Lord sees you. He cares. He cares about your healing. He cares about your heart. He cares about your mind. He cares about your breakthrough. And I believe that He wants you to experience genuine joy in your life, and that’s what I want for you too, friends.
