Now look at the next set of pictures. Can you tell me what the difference is?
What do you think is the difference? One set of photos show filthy houses. The next set of photos show clean houses. I particularly chose photos (in the 2nd bunch) that show simple, inexpensive but clean rooms. You see, there is nothing expensive about it. It's simple cleaning.
You don't have to have matching furniture, decorator taste, expensive accessories... you just need some elbow grease and maintenance. You can decide how you want to live. You can live in a mess or you can expend the energy and clean it up and keep it clean. You can take out the trash, wipe the counter, wash the dishes, do your laundry, put sheets on the bed and keep them changed. Or you can live in your own filth. If you are physically capable of cleaning, then it becomes your choice.
You might need to think about other things that come with a filthy house.
* It can contribute to allergies. (dust, dust mites, mold/mildew, etc)
* It can make you sick. (bacteria and germs)
* You lose whatever value you had in your home or in your home furnishings. If you paid $150,000 for your home and you let it get that filthy, you will be lucky to sell it for $75,000 if anyone will even buy it! I.e. it costs you money!
* It attracts pests such as mice, spiders, roaches, ants, snakes.
* If you have children, what are they learning? You don't want them to grow up and live like this. They need to be trained how to clean and how to keep a home clean.
* It costs you socially. You cannot invite someone to your home. And if you let your home get that filthy, there is a good chance that you have some hygiene issues yourself which will affect you socially. Your hygiene is affected when you don't wash your clothes, you take baths in filthy bathrooms, etc. No one wants to get close to someone who is grimy, dirty, smells. It will affect your love life!
Cleaning is hard work. Learning how to clean, organize and manage your time takes time. Taking out the trash, scrubbing the shower/tub, cleaning out a closet can take time, effort and you get some aches and pains. But the end result is so worth it and so necessary. To me it's not even a choice. I go for clean! I'm not obsessive compulsive about cleaning. I can leave a sink of dirty dishes overnight. But I know it has to be done and I'm the one to do it so I choose clean! I think people can be obsessive compulsive about NOT cleaning. For someone to NEVER put trash in the trash can (leave it laying around) is OCD in a way that never uses a trash can. Instead of germ-o-phobic they are clean-o-phobic.
Use your God given abilities to create a clean environment. God has given you a brain, intelligence, energy, muscles, time... don't waste those gifts but use them to care for what He has blessed you with. Your home doesn't have to match, be expensive, or be fancy. It can and should be clean.
