The ancient Hebrew proverb “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” has been adapted by people of varying faiths across the globe. Some imply it has to do with personal care, others with an orderly home. Regardless of faith or tradition, there is great value in this saying no matter what area of your life you choose to apply the age old adage. You don’t even have to believe in God to see the clear benefits of cleanliness.
I have found great comfort in striving to live up to this aphorism in as many areas of my life as I can manage and I’m happy to share with you how you can apply it to yours for a healthier, more beautiful way of life. Adding one or more of any of these steps to your life will help protect your health and well-being. Keep in mind, the more areas one is able to apply the saying, the better one will feel. You need not spend more than just five minutes a day cleansing a chosen area of your life. And even during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, you can’t afford to not devote time to your most valuable asset; yourself.
Body
With cold and flu season here, we cannot afford to not wash our hands with soap and water multiple times daily. You can take bathing and basic self-grooming up a notch by giving yourself a quick full-body exfoliation during your next shower. Scrubbing behind the ears, under fingernails, around elbows and in-between toes will leave you feeling refreshed and relaxed. Treating yourself to a purifying face masque will even add a healthy glow to help put your best face forward.
Home / Work / Car
Daily rituals like making the bed each morning and quickly putting away dishes, laundry and clutter takes less time than one might think. Promptly sorting, filing and trashing paperwork rather than letting it pile up to recreate the leaning tower of Pisa on the counter will lead to a sense of accomplishment and increase productivity.
Take 5 minutes to clean the crap out of your car. Receipts, fast food containers, shopping bags and other useless objects cluttering the floorboards are a reflection of chaos. No one wants to open their car door in the middle of the mall parking lot and have papers fly out. It’s not a pretty sight to be chasing down a 3 month old issue of CV Weekly in the wind (of course that’s never happened to me!).
Diet
Always rinse and clean fresh produce to rid it of pesticides and other contaminants before consumption. We should also be choosing the “cleanest’ food for consumption in terms of ingredients. Choose food in their most natural state and with as little processing and as few ingredients as possible. We don’t need dirty foods full of additives, sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup or trans fats polluting our bodies, our temples.
Relationships
Clean up or clean out the rotten relationships is your life. If you have someone in your life that brings you pain, emotionally or physically, it’s time to be honest with yourself and the person involved. Cleaning up a toxic relationship can give you a new outlook on life and your help you find your value and place in it. Having the courage to confront this type of threat to your health and well-being with grace is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself.
Mind
5 minutes spent each day re-affirming positive thoughts of peace and love to oneself and others is one of the most cleansing and beautiful acts an individual can do. During these times where the world seems to be going awry with rage, sometimes there is little we can do but find the peace within. Sometimes it takes searching, but as the other proverb says, “seek and you will find”.
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