This summer, we had our first ever vacation in my family and we went to Yosemite for four days.

Wow! Is it gorgeous up there!?

We hiked up Yosemite Falls, Glacier Point and Bridal Veil Falls during our first few days.

Super-easy breathtaking hikes, the kind where you get to enjoy the journey on the way up there.

Well, on our last day we decided to try a little more difficult hike to Vernal Falls.

The Yosemite pamphlet says it’s a strenuous hike. But, it didn’t faze me for some reason.

I felt emotionally ready thinking about the steep hike or so I thought.

On the way up there I started feeling out of breath, my legs hurt, my back hurt, and doubt set in.

At that moment I couldn’t help but relate to how my clients feel when they make the decision to de-clutter their lives.

One of my clients said to me one time… ”My chest feels tight; I go in and then turn around not knowing where to start.”

Emotionally, you’ve made the decision but then there are the aches and the doubts and the fears and maybe you’ve gotten started but then got stuck and felt like giving up.

The thing that I found helpful to get up to that first mile trip to the bridge was having someone to come alongside me to help me push through.

I think I would have quit halfway through had it not been for my daughter’s gentle tug and her encouraging voice saying, “You can do it! Feel the burn mommy! You got this!”

Then there were the hikers coming down who had already blazed the trail ahead of us.

They were very encouraging, saying things like “You’re almost there.

It will be so worth it!”  In the same way, you may feel emotionally ready to start the de-cluttering process and you may find yourself stuck in a depression cycle (been there, too) or feeling anxious at tangled up necklaces, stuffed drawers, cluttered hallways and a bunch of decisions all at once.

So, listen, if you spend your afternoons laying on the sofa drinking wine, looking for a distraction, you’ve tried to avoid that room, you’ve thought to yourself or been discouraged by your partner by thoughts like, “You should be able to do this on your own.”

It’s okay to need help to push through, especially when it feels like a steep uphill battle. We’re not designed to do life alone!