Do you feel like they filled your life with chaos and no structure? Do you sometimes feel like your life is messy or perfect, but never in between? Do you secretly wish that your life could be more organized and less chaotic? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re definitely not alone. Many people struggle with feeling like their life is a mess most of the time. It’s as if they have one foot in the messy world of adulthood and one foot in their teenage years. They simultaneously yearn for more order while also wanting to stay young forever. We all want to live a structured and organized life where everything makes sense, but we don’t always know how to make that happen. Thankfully, embracing your messy life isn’t as scary as it might seem, especially when you consider all the benefits that come from doing so.
What is a messy life?
A messy life is one that isn’t as clean and orderly as you might like it to be. More than that, a messy life is one that is filled with all the complexities of being an adult while still clinging to parts of your younger self. You might feel you’re living in a constant state of chaos, or you might have a few areas in your life that are extra messy. No matter where you fall on the messiness spectrum, you might wish that your life was different. A messy life is a normal life. It’s the complicated nature of being a human being in your 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond. It’s being an adult while still being a child at heart. It’s juggling way too many responsibilities while also wanting to live life to the fullest. It’s having a messy home and a messy schedule and a messy bank account. It’s knowing that you can’t have a tidy life all the time, but choosing to embrace that fact, anyway.
One foot in adulthood and one foot in your teenage years
This is one of the most common struggles that people have with embracing their messy lives. Just as it is in childhood, there is a fine balance between being a grown-up and being a child at heart. It’s easy to want to fall back into old patterns and habits that you’ve outgrown, but it’s also important to let go of those things. Walk the fine line between living in the now and holding onto the past. This isn’t always easy, but it’s important to your psychological health. Holding onto the past makes it harder to move forward in your life. It’s like carrying around a bunch of extra baggage that keeps you from truly enjoying the present moment. You might find yourself one foot in adulthood and one foot in your teenage years with your relationships, your work, your financial situation, or your living situation. You might be in a committed relationship and be able to look back on your single days with fondness and nostalgia. You might have a job that is more than just a paycheck but also one that you can’t wait to leave behind when you finally retire. You might be a homeowner who dreams of an RV life just like you did when you were a kid.
The benefits of embracing your messy life
There are many benefits to embracing the messiness of your life and not constantly trying to clean up your messes. Foremost, it’s healthier to accept the messiness of life instead of constantly trying to make everything perfect. Trying to make everything perfect is impossible, and it will only lead to frustration and resentment. If you constantly try to control your environment and make everything perfect, you’re going to end up feeling like a failure. You’re going to feel like your life is a mess even when it is already messy and beyond your control. Realizing that you can’t control everything and everything won’t always be perfect is freeing. It’s incredibly empowering to let go of the need to control everything. Embracing the messiness of your life also helps you to avoid burnout. Trying to constantly pick up after yourself and make everything as perfect as possible can lead to mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion. It’s much better to accept your messy life and let go of the need to be perfect at all times.
How to embrace the messiness of your life
If you are living a messy life and secretly wishing that it could be more orderly, you don’t have to let that feeling rule you. The first thing you can do is appreciate the things that are messy in your life. Instead of trying to fix everything, focus on appreciating the things that make you happy, even if they are messy. If you have a messy desk, don’t make it perfect again. Instead, appreciate the fact that it’s full of notes and sticky-notes that you wrote to yourself when you needed a reminder. If you have a messy kitchen, don’t clean it all at once. Instead, appreciate the fact that it is full of pots and pans that are used regularly and need to be cleaned. There will always be messes in your life, and there is nothing wrong with that. It’s part of being human and living a real life. Instead of trying to control the messy things in your life, try to let go of the need for control. Instead of trying to make everything perfect, appreciate the things that are messy.
Wrapping up
Living a messy life isn’t a bad thing, and it doesn’t mean that you are a messy person. It just means that you lead a real life and don’t control everything around you. It’s okay to have a messy life, and it’s preferable to living a spotless and tidy life. If you are living a messy life and secretly wishing that it could be more orderly, you don’t have to let that feeling rule you. Appreciate the things that are messy in your life and try to let go of the need for control.
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