Dealing with Mail

Every day my husband picks up the mail from our mailbox. It stays on the dining table until we go through it and sort it out. The junk mail goes straight into the trash—we don’t even open it. The bills are put in the pile next to the computer until they are paid, and then we file them away. The grocery store circulars are kept on my kitchen shelf, so I can plan my shopping and meals around whatever is on sale that week. I go through a similar process with emails. I go through them daily—deleting and reporting spam, replying to personal emails, and deleting old messages that are no longer relevant.

What if, instead of sorting through it, we just took all the mail and stored it permanently? This would not be a good way to deal with it! Junk mail and expired grocery store circulars would be mixed in with important pieces of mail. The subsequent clutter would make it difficult to retrieve relevant information when it is needed.

Think of all the incoming messages that enter our heads on a daily basis. Some are our own ideas; some are from the outside world. A good amount of it is junk; some of it is useful in the short term; and finally, there are a few that need to be stored permanently. Messages that are false, manipulative, flattering, or draining—need to be pitched into the trash right away. People may give you advice or information that is relevant to your current phase of life—consider it, and keep it on hand for as long as it is needed—but get rid of it when it is no longer applicable. For example, if you are a mom with young children, you might be given advice on how much care and undivided attention children need. However, after the kids are grown, this information is no longer applicable to your situation, and keeping it on file can just be guilt-inducing and limiting. Finally, there are lessons which are meant to be internalized forever —core principles, information that is structurally integral to our true meaning and purpose. We can’t get these important messages mixed in with the junk.

So, regularly sort through the all incoming ideas; deal with them immediately and appropriately. Every few years, clean out your mental files and get rid of anything that is no longer useful. This allows clarity and quick access to integral truths.