For it is Easier to Save than Delete: 5 Ways to Remove Unwanted Files
All Those Files
by mwichary
For it is Easier to Save than Delete: 5 Ways to Remove Unwanted Files
©by Nick Grimshawe
The other day I sat at my desk at work looking at all the files saved on my desktop and realized that finding the time to delete files that no longer served any purpose would take some dedicated time and effort on my part. Meanwhile saving files is a snap. Just click save, and voila, another file finds immortal life in the electronic heart of my computer.
Deleting on the other hand means a search for files you no longer need, then a quick peak to see if you selected the correct file, then hit delete. But not so fast; now you need to deal with a caution that reads something like “are you sure you want to delete this file?” Immediately a seed of doubt enters your awareness. Hesitation strikes, if just for a moment. Only then do you execute the final fatal click.
It struck me that life is like that. We seem to copy an endless stream of photos into our mind, as we go about our lives. We hang onto these like possessions, good photo’s and bad photo’s alike. At the oddest moments these photos have a habit of reloading and pushing us into some past moment of pain, loss and suffering. Sometimes we even get a pleasure moment.
But it is the loss, pain and suffering that we seem to want to hang onto the hardest, like some prized family heirloom, or a cheque written to us for over a million dollars. We do not want to let go. We will not hit the delete button.
Yet to escape the distractions of the past, and the worries on the future, usually based on the memories of past events, and to fully live in the now, we need to learn how to hit the delete button. In the end, it is really just a process of letting go, of opening up the grasping hand, offering freedom to all the entanglements of life.
Please Delete Me
Here are five suggestions for improving your ability to delete.
1. Awareness is the key to finding all the files you need to delete, so my first suggestion is one of observation. Observe the times you find yourself being pulled into past emotions, like anger, or despair, hurt and pain. Keep a list of these in your journal. You don’t need to do anything with these emotions, just make a note of them.
2. Meditation gives you the ability to open yourself up, to enhance your awareness of these unwanted files and to truly explore the landscape of your saved domains. Meditation can lead to insights that help you disconnect from those files.
3. Focus your attention on one file at a time; trying to take on everything at once is overwhelming and counter-productive. Work on the most readily accessible emotions that pull you out of the present. For instance I worked on the phrase “I don’t have time” for several weeks, spotting every time I used those words to make an excuse, or every time I felt time pressing in on me with those words echoing in my mind. As I focused I became more aware of the times I used those words. When you bring something into your consciousness, then and only then can you delete them.
4. Rewrite your script. As you get better at spotting the times a particular unwanted emotion crowds in, start rewriting the script. When I started to say “I don’t have time to do that,” I would rephrase to something like, “I am not willing to spend time on that,” or “if I really want to do it, I will find the time,” or, I really enjoy finding the time to do that”, or, “I have all the time I need to do that,”. The process is gradual but progressive.
5. Practice daily. Stay with the program, and eventually you will find yourself living more fully in the moment than you ever thought possible. Again progress is gradual. You might not notice the changes within you at first, but then like a tide coming in, you will be flooded with awareness.
Please Delete Me
As the process continues you become aware on deeper and deeper levels, of everything you have buried in dark areas where you have denied access to yourself and your own files.
Eventually there is nothing left to pull you out of living fully in the present moment.
The biggest obstacle to success is the willingness to see the process through. When that caution shows up asking you if you are sure you want to delete that file, answer with a resounding yes!
Nick Grimshawe
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Tags: awareness, delete, files, focus, observation, pain, practice, self improvement, suffering
Lol, Nick – I simply love this analogy!!! As time progresses and I grow, it is indeed becoming easier to gain access to what I call the “dark and hidden files”. This is a great post, and I emmensely enjoyed reading it.
Hi Judy,
I am glad you like the analogy. I certainly had fun with it. I couldn’t resist once the idea for the post was sprung. You have to go with what happens inside.
Access to the dark and hidden is part of a growing awareness. As things become visible they move from the unconscious to the conscious. In the conscious mind they lose their power.
I am still working on those dark and hidden files. Just when I think I’ve eliminated everything, up pops another. Oh well, it’s a journey, right!
That’s the fun.
Nick
Fantastic article Nick!
(I enjoyed your comment on Robin’s site and followed you over to yours)
Anyhow, it truly does come down to our conscious awareness as to what we “store” out of our life and what we choose to “delete”. Bottom line we do have a choice and I think many times people forget that.
And as you said too unfortunately most people choose to hold onto the pain and “bad” moments instead of focusing on the good.
It makes me think of a story about the 2 boxes (not sure if you heard it). A girl was given 2 boxes by the universe, 1 gold and 1 black and was told that as she goes through life to put all her good moments in the gold and all her bad moments in the black. And so the years went on and the girl did as she was told and after a long time passed by, she noticed the gold box got heavier and heavier while the black box was still as light as on the first day. So the girl asked the universe, why is that – since I have been putting all my happiness and sadness in each accordingly and the universe replied, look closer…the black box has no bottom.
The moral of the story is I think obvious, may we cherish and hold onto as many great things as we want, but let go of all that does not serve us.
I truly enjoyed your post here. You are right on the money with this, but it goes further… You have to learn to empty the recycle bin too.
I recently went through an attack from the recycle bin. Something that I had deleted from the memory banks of my mind, years ago, was pulled out of the recycle bin and did some temporary damage. Someone else hit the restore file button, not me.
Do disk clean up regularly too.
Have a good one, my friend!
Reading: "For it is Easier to Save than Delete: 5 Ways to Remove Unwanted Files | Beautiful Summer Morning" ( http://tinyurl.com/3g8fbk )
Hi Evita,
Thanks for following my comments over to my blog and I am happy you enjoyed the post. I love the story of the two boxes. I hope my readers come back to read it.
That is part of the fun of doing this. You get to hear some of the other stories out there too. You end up with a growing web of inspiration.
Thank You
Nick
Hello tlcpro,
Thanks for commenting and for reminding me that the recycle bin has to be emptied too. Which brings up a point. At work for some reason the recycle bin doesn’t empty automatically like it does at home. I spent some frustrating times trying to figure out what was wrong as I continued to get notifications that I was over capacity. So it really is important to empty the recycle bin!!!
Word of caution there folks, watch out for the Restore File Button, and clean the disc too. All good suggestions.
You have me laughing about that one. I did missed all of that.
Nick