30 Things to Declutter For More Midlife Joy

Inside: Make space for more midlife joy as you strip away all the clutter and noise. Consider starting with these 30 things!

Although midlife brings with it new challenges, it’s also true that for many of us, happiness rises as we befriend our True Selves and get better at honouring our wiring and the truth of what we want and need.

Happiness doesn’t drop into our laps without work, though.

To really embrace midlife joy we must choose to do the hard (and brave) work of stripping away all the noise and clutter of our lives. Only then can we (re)claim freedom, wholeness, and joy.

You are not bad, wrong, or broken. Life is messy (and beautiful) and we must choose our response to the circumstances we meet along the way. We can show up fully to life in every season but some regular decluttering is necessary.

Krista xo

if you want more midlife joy, declutter these 30 things:

A question I ask myself regularly these days is “what do I honestly want to bring with me into my new season?”

Not every habit, relationship, mindset, thing, or commitment deserves space in our lives (also our mind, heart, and body). And as we transition from one life season to the next, this is a great time for telling about what does/does not feel life-giving. We have to deliberately listen inward for the truth of what no longer serves us and find the courage to let it go.

Maybe a few of these ideas will prompt you to take intentional action to strip away, release, or declutter all the baggage that holds you down and claim more midlife joy (or any season of life joy) for yourself.

1. chasing love and belonging from people who don’t reciprocate.

2. speaking unkindly to yourself.

3. all the extra courses, books, or “shoulds” you signed up for out of fear, urgency, and comparison.

4. raising the bar on yourself all the time.

5. uber-independence and thinking you have to do it all yourself.

6. anyone who violates your well-communicated boundaries.

7. working through lunch, weekends, and holidays.

8. mindless spending rather than being intentional about where your money goes.

9. guilt or shame for simply being human in a messy world.

10. holding back from your creative work out of fear or perfectionism.

11. staying places where you have to have hide parts of yourself for ‘belonging.’

12. gossip and getting in other people’s business instead of keeping your eyes on your own path.

13. doing all the cooking, cleaning, bill paying, etc., yourself if you have a life partner.

14. comparing your marriage or significant relationship to others or to media.

15. not hydrating yourself – Pepsi, wine, and coffee don’t count 😉

16. ignoring your feelings and judging them as ‘bad.’

17. making big decisions when you’re weary or depleted.

18. not naming your days and instead living at the whim of other people’s wants or urgency.

19. suppressing your voice and needs for the comfort of others.

20. deferring rest, joy or happiness for some magical day in the future (now’s a perfectly fine day to be happy).

21. not loving the body you’re in.

22. thinking that life should be neat and tidy.

23. saying yes to things out of obligation or without pausing first to consider your values and priorities.

24. carrying responsibility for the emotional wellbeing of another adult.

25. denying your grief, trauma, or pain instead of naming it so you can heal it.

26. believing that becoming our true, integrated, beautiful selves has a finish line.

27. making everything a binary – or all or nothing thinking (there’s a whole lot of life in between the extremes).

28. not letting yourself celebrate, belly laugh, or receive pleasure because there’s suffering in the world or because something bad might lie around the bend.

29. outsourcing your wellbeing or distrusting your inner voice of wisdom.

30. living a life others expect of you instead of living a life true to yourself (the top regret of the dying).

Claim midlife joy for yourself. Now matter where you’ve come from, you get to write a new story for the rest of your life. Make space for more joy in your life as you strip away all the noise and clutter.

Krista xo