Who loves cleaning toilets?

I'm going to let you in a deep, dark secret of mine. I really love to clean! I am happiest when my house is organized and clean.

But, I also have 4 kids and a dog......so clean is definitely not always the name of the game. I am learning to be okay with that, but it doesn't mean I don't enjoy having my house clean.

There are many cleaning jobs I greatly enjoy (cleaning toilets being one), but one I don't particularly enjoy doing is cleaning my main floor hardwood floors. And inevitably when I spend the time cleaning them, that day it rains and everyone traipses through with dirty feet, or the kids invite the neighborhood over, or someone spills the biggest, stickiest thing they can. You can see where this is going.

It's like all my efforts were for nothing. And I find myself thinking like Mr. Incredible (from The Incredibles), wondering "why can't the world just stay saved ?" or why can't my house just stay clean?

I know it's just part of life and I know that cleaning my floors and bathrooms and everything else will need to be done over again and again and again.

But then why even bother cleaning our houses? I think it's because the better we maintain our houses, the longer they will last, not to mention the feeling of satisfaction we can get from taking something that is dirty and transforming it. It serves us and our homes.

And the work on our minds and brains is the same. It is never done!

We will need to notice the thoughts that are dirtying up our minds. The long-held limiting beliefs or exaggerations we've been thinking so much we may not even notice the mess they are causing. And just like the bathroom counters, we are going to need to clean up those thoughts on a regular basis.

How do we find those thoughts that need to be cleaned up? Here are some of my tips:

- Pay attention to what you talk about. What are the things you consistently tell your friends? It is most likely some of your long-held thoughts or beliefs.

- Ask yourself if those beliefs are actually true and if they are serving you. An easy way to determine this is just by noticing if these thoughts are positive or negative.

- Be open to replacing those ideas with new ones. Not all at once, but at least just consider that another thought might be more useful.

The work of becoming the best version of ourselves is continual, but it is also so satisfying and beneficial. I dare say even more satisfying than wiping fingerprints off a glass door.