From the moment we enter this world, we start filling our bags.
Our environment, the people around us, the opportunities we have to see and do and experience life, all go into them.
When we are very little, our parents often help us carry our bags. Bags filled with toys and diapers and extra clothes, and our first milestones in life.
We graduate to carrying our own lunch boxes and backpacks, musical instruments, sports gear, and school memories.
As adults, our bags can get quite heavy. Briefcases, purses, and suitcases. Filled with a lifetime of work and play and responsibilities.
We even pick up other people's bags along the way, especially for those we care deeply about.
Sometimes we carry so many bags that we can get buried by the weight of them.
We're often afraid to take things out of our bags, or to let go of the baggage we carry for others. We don't want to see the people we love struggle.
But carrying too much baggage isn't healthy either.
We need to stop every once in awhile and unpack our bags.
It's like emptying out your purse and getting rid of the garbage that's sitting at the bottom of it. The gum wrappers and the extra pens and the random things that got tossed in along the way.
We need to sit with our baggage and look at what's inside.
And ask ourselves a few questions:
Can we let go of that embarrassing moment from 20 years ago that still makes us cringe?
Can we stop carrying the guilt we feel from our divorces or breakups?
Can we accept the choices we've made in life and stop replaying that bad decision over and over again?
Can we hand the bags we are still carrying for our children over to them and allow them to shoulder their own burdens?
Some of us are good at this, periodically purging and cleaning out our bags.
Others are secret hoarders, never letting go of any memories or moments.
Baggage is just another way to describe life experience. Yet many people use the term baggage in a negative way.
I often hear, "I don't want to date anyone with a lot of baggage." or "That person has so much baggage."
And I think "Good luck finding someone who doesn't!"
It's important to remember that all of us have baggage. It comes with the territory as a human being.
The key is to own our baggage. Not to let it own us.
We should know what's in our bags and how those things add to our lives. And we should know when to let go of the things that don't.
Take some time to sit down with your baggage and really take inventory.
Lighten that load however you can.
Make room for new experiences and new people.
And remember...
It's easier to enjoy the life ahead of us if we aren't carrying the weight of all of the life behind us.
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