Lessons From a Garbage Can

With Christmas approaching, I had to get my house ready for having people over. Hosting gatherings is always a good reason to take a look at what has accumulated since last time and dispose, store or rearrange things. One of the things I rearranged was my bathroom - just moving a garbage can. I didn't put it anywhere crazy, just from one side of the toilet to the other.

That 2 foot movement has changed my life! Ok, maybe that is a bit dramatic, but it definitely woke me up to how often I am not present. How often my brain takes over a task without me knowing. It has been 3 weeks and my brain still thinks the garbage can is in the old spot. I now routinely drop Kleenex and Q-Tips onto the floor because the garbage is no longer there. It is amazing to me that I don't even notice the thought about throwing something away come into my brain to reroute it. It has become instinct to just toss garbage in a certain location. Then I remember, pick it up, and place it in the correct spot.

It is crazy how much we auto-pilot in our every day lives. Who would have guessed it would be this difficult to re-map the garbage can's location in my mind?! If you want to challenge your brain, try moving something simple yet well used like that. Trust me, it's harder than it sounds!