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Well, we’ve come to the end of yet another year. No doubt, we’ve all gone through many events during this past year that have, at times, tested our faith and our resolve to make positive changes in our lives. Some of you may still be dealing with things that are unresolved in your life. In continuing with last month’s topic, and as we approach the New Year, I’m sure a lot of us are thinking about our new year’s resolutions or some changes we want to make in the coming year. One suggestion that I’d like to offer is to come into the New Year as light as possible by letting go of any excess baggage that you may be carrying around. Make a commitment to yourself not to carry it with you into the New Year. Erykah Badu did a song called “Bag Lady”. Some of the lyrics are “bag lady, you gonna hurt your back dragging all them bags like that. I guess nobody ever told you, all you must hold onto is you”. As I pondered the words of this song, I thought about how often the struggles we face in life are directly related to the baggage we carry. We can have all of the self-help knowledge there is to know in the world, but if we don’t release the extra baggage we are lugging around, the knowledge will not benefit us in the manner that it should.
Have you ever moved from one home to another? When packing, do you discard old stuff that you haven’t used in years, or do you pack it in a box and move it with you to your new place. I remember helping someone move once. There was just so much stuff. There were things dating back years that they had forgotten they even had until we started pulling stuff out. Some people call it being a packrat. There are some who would be considered packrats in their emotional and spiritual lives. We are holding on to so much stuff that there is no room for anything else to come in. We are presented with opportunities for our growth, but because our hands are full carrying the packages full of stuff that no longer serves our purpose, we have no free hands to grab a hold to it. Why do people horde things that crowd their lives? Sometimes we have a strange attachment to things that are in our lives whether they are useful or not or whether they weigh us down or not. Common sense tells us that we should only take things with us that are new or in good condition, but we become desperate because we don’t want it to be empty, so we drag the old things that are not in good shape. We are so afraid of lack that we hold onto things that keep us in the very thing we fear – lack. These old things crowd our space, yet we try to make room for them in our new space. There are things like that in our emotional lives. They hold certain value to us and so we become attached and it’s hard to part with them. They are a part of who we are. Every experience we encountered serves to make us who we are, but once we learn the lesson, it is okay to release the negative energy (baggage) that we accumulated as a result of the experience, and still not lose the lesson.
How often have you said “this is just the way I am” or “you don’t know what I’ve been through” to someone when they offered you another way at looking at a particular situation? Even though the alternative might offer us a better way of life, it is outside of our comfort zone. It is outside of what we know. And so, we hold onto our baggage even tighter.
When we think of baggage, we usually immediately think of things such as drama from the past. We immediately think of chaos. There are other, more subtle, forms of baggage that also serve to hinder our growth. They are:
Finances – Sometimes there is just not enough money left at the end of the month, and other times, it’s just that we have mismanaged our funds. Take an honest look at your finances or have an expert look them over. Is there any area where you can start to save (even if just a little) so that you are not constantly weighed down with not living the life you desire because of lack?
Over-commitment – Doing good things is very noble, however when over-involvement is keeping us away from addressing real issues in our lives, it tends to backfire because we are still carrying around the weight of what we are not addressing.
Holding Things In – Sometimes we carry around things such as hurt feelings, guilt, shame, anger because we do not want to inconvenience others or upset them. When we do this, it puts such pressure on us to hide who we really are and how we feel, thus weighing us down.
Untapped Dreams – We all have a vision for our lives, at least I hope that we do. Are you not living your dreams because you are living the life someone else designed for you? You are only responsible to fulfill the assignment you were given, not be weighed down fulfilling other’s assignments.
Friends – Surprisingly, if you don’t feel that you are flourishing around the people you are hanging with, it might be time to find another circle of friends. That does not mean that you must drop your current friends, unless they are causing you harm, and by all means, you still love them, but you must balance your friendship circle with those whose desires match your own.
I love bags. Some might call it an obsession. My husband tells those who buy me bags as gifts that there is no more room to store my collection. I have bags for all occasions. Recently, I went through my collection because my closet had started to look more like a storage room. As I begin to set aside those bags that were going to charity, I tried to remember why I had purchased some of them in the 1st place because I hadn't used them in awhile. At the time when I brought some, it was because I had seen others with the same bag and it looked nice on them. However, after trying to use it, I found they didn’t fit in with my style. Don’t compare your life or purpose to other’s life and purpose. By doing this, you take on unnecessary baggage that doesn’t fit into your life.
My prayer for you in this coming year is that you determine in your heart and mind to go into 2007 free and determined to take steps towards walking in the footsteps that only you were designed to walk in.
Free up your hands so that you may waive them in victory over something that has been binding you up in the past.
Free up your heart so that you may love and receive love the way you desire.
Free up your mind so that you are clear about the direction your life is taking.
Free up your time so that when opportunity comes, you are ready to walk in it.
Free up the limitations you have imposed on yourself and walk boldly towards your heart’s desires.
Pack light for your journey in 2007 Sisters.
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