"I'm so embarrassed!" I can't tell you how many times I've heard a client say those words. While I totally understand those words and the reason behind them, I also want to reach out to them and just squeeze the words out of them! Life is what it is, and how our lives get to the point of total chaos is not as important as that decision we make to change it.
Let's face it, anyone who has raised small children can tell you how some days it seems impossible to have more than one room tidied up at the same time without using some form of restraint sure to get you on the front page of "Bad Parent" magazine. I remember the commercial for Calgon from years ago where the Mom would disappear into the bathtub to allow Calgon to save her harried soul from destruction. Um, hello? When do Moms with young children have time for a bath? We all know that as soon as we settle in to the welcoming vat of steam and bubbles, we will hear, "Mom? Where are you? Can you help me find my pet mouse? I think he got out!"
I realize that parenthood is not the reason for all clutter. One of my current clients is one who, up until recently, was taking care of her ailing husband AND her ailing mother at the same time. The toll of taking care of one family member is tremendous enough without adding the care of another simultaneously. Slowly but surely we are helping this client to regain control over the clutter that has accumulated due to "absolutely no time to deal with it." Not only are we rediscovering where her floors are through this process, but we are helping her to rediscover who she is once again.
A prospect that I spoke to yesterday said, "I'll contact you to come over once I have a chance to clean up a little. I'm just so embarrassed that it's gotten to this point." I don't think that I feel as passionate about any other response, which is, "Please, do NOT be embarrassed. Life happens. What's important is that we say, OK, let's fix it now and just move forward." My client receives kudos for reaching out for help from a professional. We all need to do that from time to time in various regard. Remember the Nike ad that said "Just do it?" We can apply that to this message as well. Don't be embarrassed. It's time to bring in some help. Just do it.
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