“You can’t reach for anything new if your hands are still full of yesterday’s junk.” ~Louise Smith

Dear Universe,

We all have baggage.

I’m not talking about the suitcases we pack to go on trips.

I’m talking about the heavy emotional baggage we carry every day, the kind that chips away at our edges, the kind that weighs on our souls, the kind that dims our light.

Broken heart?  It’s in the bag.  Loss of a loved one?  It’s in there too.  All the sadness, traumas, guilts, regrets, mistakes…. All jammed packed in your baggage.

I have a proposition, though.

What if we did treat our baggage like it was luggage for a trip?

We would only pack what we really needed moving forward.  We would never dream of carrying something that wouldn’t serve us; that would waste space.

We would balance our options carefully since we wouldn’t want the bag too be overloaded or weigh too much, especially because that costs us extra.  We’d pack the necessities—the immediate, present day ones—in a carry-on and we’d distribute the bigger, heavier stuff to another bag.

Best of all?  Those burdensome bags get checked at the gate.  You know they’re still there.  You just don’t have to carry them with you.  All that heavy lifting will feel like a huge, emotional weight gone.  You will feel lighter, freer, happier.

Just use your small carry-on moving forward.  That’s enough.

That’s what I’ve learned these last couple of years and it’s serving me well.  There are simply things I refuse to carry anymore.

And it has made all the difference.

Don’t believe me?  Just try it.

Much Gratitude,

A