PP 265: Cutting Out the Extras – Part 1

Kim Sutton If you’ve been listening for a while you have heard my stories about all the animals and kids and chaos, I guess would be an appropriate word that there is in my house. And I have good, however, sad news to share on this episode. This weekend, we actually let three of our eight cats go to new homes, because we realized that there was just way too much going on around our house. Actually, while I’m recording this, I just realized that I did not close the door to my office before I started recording. So there is a kitten, a big kitten playing with cords or something on the floor right next to my desk. And it was five kittens who were making things absolutely crazy. There were days when I would be recording episodes with guests where I hadn’t realized that there was a kitten hidden in the closet. And it would climb up under my desk and it would be weaving itself in and out of my mic stand while I was trying to listen or even while I was trying to talk. And although it was extremely painful, I knew some changes needed to be made. Now in the spirit of total transparency, there was a lot of extra that went along with eight cats in the house. And by extra, I don’t mean just crazy cats running all around and the necessity to buy more food and buy more cat litter. But eight cats in a not so large house makes for pretty complicated situations even when there’s two litter boxes. To give you a comparison, with five kids and my husband and I and one bathroom that everybody seems to want to use, we do have a second bathroom, but nobody wants to use it. There are times when there’s a line at the door of people who need to get in next because they really have to go. And the same was happening with cats. Even with two litter boxes it was creating quite a mess. I don’t think I need to say anything further than that. And that was the final clue that changes needed to be made. Unfortunately, it was the three kittens who I really loved the most who did go, please don’t tell the other two. So it was a bittersweet goodbye. But we’re hoping that we’ll see positive changes with three less in the house. In the next episode of the podcast, Episode 267, I’m going to be talking about how letting the extra cats go parallel some big changes that are happening in my life. So I encourage you to tune in to that episode.

If you get anything out of today’s episode, I want you to take a look around your life and look at all the extras that you have. Well, we can’t get rid of extra kids, as much as we might want to sometimes. And although it might really hurt a lot, often there are projects, animals, jobs, addictions that we really need to let go of if we’re going to see our life progress in a positive direction. As I already mentioned, stay tuned for the next episode to hear the personal challenges I’ve been going through and all the thoughts that I’ve been considering, especially in light of the fact that I have Chronic Idea Disorder. But before then, I do want you to take some time to reflect on your own life and begin to think about what could happen if you simplified everything that you’re working on and everything that you’re living with. Now, with all this said, go forth, and make it a positive and productive day.

I have a challenge for you. Do you want to help me help the community around us? Well, that’s exactly what I’m doing in Keep Kim Accountable. A new weekly challenge I’ve set for myself in the positive productivity Facebook group. Every week, I post three goals that I have for myself for that week. And if you, a listener, post a screenshot of your review of this podcast in the thread below that week’s goals, then for every goal that I don’t meet, I will donate $25 to a charity of your choice. By the way, if I reach all my goals this week, but don’t reach them next week, your name will be carried forward for all of eternities, so your charity could benefit multiple times. To get involved visit thekimsutton.com/group and join the positive productivity Facebook group. I hope to see you there.