There are a lot of things in our lives that need to be scrubbed from time to time: dishes, floors, toilets, showers, clothes, even our bodies. It's not often considered much of a pleasant task, getting down on your hands and knees to scour the tiles and rid them of all traces of dirty feet and muddy pet-pawprints, or pulling out that nasty toilet brush to reach all the grime and grossness underneath the edges of the toilet seat rim.

Scrubbing, like many other unpleasant things in life, can turn into a kind of vicious cycle. The less you scrub, the less you want to scrub, and the more the scum and mold grows in every nook and cranny you've been neglecting. Even if you're fairly regular about cleaning in general, there's usually still dirt left behind. Think of the last time you showered—you probably went about your business as usual, using soap and shampoo and what-have-you—but unless you got out your exfoliant and a loofah, you probably still left behind hundreds of thousands of dead skin cells. Not only should that make your skin crawl, but think about how that same principle would apply to scrubbing your home. Everyone's shower needs a good, serious scrub every now and again, if only to ensure that you're really living in a truly clean environment.

Now, I don't say all this in hopes of creating more germaphobes in the world, but rather to give some context. What if we applied our principles of deep cleaning to all areas of our lives? Again, I don't mean literally taking Spray n' Wash to your typically grimy friends or family, but there's something to be said for really giving your life a metaphorical good scrub.

Maybe you have some work that you haven't been keeping up with, or some people in your life that you can't seem to find your place with. If you start scrubbing at all that unaccomplished mess or those unfounded relationships, you might reveal some really great stuff underneath...or find that the mess and dirt simply rubs right off.

Or, let's say you're cleaning an unfamiliar pot or pan—either new to you or that belongs to someone else—and you keep scrubbing at this pesky spot for several minutes, only to realize that it's part of the pot and isn't going anywhere. Giving a good scrub to your relationships can work the same way, and yield the same results. Those who shouldn't stick around will flake right off and make their way out into the world to continue dirtying someone else's pots and pans, while those who can withstand the scrubbing become a part of your cooking utensils in a seamless fashion.

Do yourself a favor and give everything a good scrub every once in awhile. The more you do it, the easier it is, and the less uneccesary dirt you'll be living with.