Have you ever gone on a trip?
You know that feeling when you’re getting ready, and you’re packing your suitcase? You pull all the things you need out of your closet, out of the dresser drawers, the bathroom cabinet, and the odds & ends around the house. You begin to fold, roll, and wrap. As the suitcase begins to fill, you fold a little more, roll and wrap a little tighter, and give a slight compression as you cram it into the last remaining space. With just a few more items to put in the front pocket, you are done packing. As you close the lid, the zipper sticks. So you sit on the suitcase, squashing all the carefully packed contents, and yank the zipper closed.
You wheel your overpacked suitcase to the airline counter for check-in; and they tell you it’s over the baggage weight, so you will owe an additional charge. It’s either pay the charge, or unpack your suitcase there in front of the other travelers and airline agents, and decide what precious items can be hand carried, or disposed of, under the immense pressure of time and judgement.
We’ve all been there. … Wishing we could rewind back to when we were packing the bag and wish we’d been more intentional or practiced some scrutiny while packing in the first place.
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I’m here to tell you, that our lives are a lot like these suitcases. Along the way, we fold memories, emotions, old conversations said and unsaid, away into our life’s suitcase. Sometimes we choose to pack up emotions that, much like that fifth pair of shoes for our two day trip, really aren’t necessary.
Emptying out life’s suitcase for all the world to see can get really messy… and if forced to hand carry these memories, would we?
The excess baggage fee for life is far more expensive than what any airline would charge.
So, we must continually practice mindfulness and act with intention in deciding what we put into our suitcase.
For in this life, We only get one.
Life of This 