The Anchors That Hold Us Back

There is a little town in the Adirondack Mountains of New York where I spent years as a kid and I now get to call home. It was also the first place that Suanne and I lived when we got married.

It is a little piece of paradise and my favorite place on earth, so getting to live here all year is quite a gift.

Before we moved back last year, we spent many summers here on our family vacations. The last such vacation was in 2020 when we spent two weeks in a little cabin.

I remember one morning we went out with some friends with our paddle boards and kayaks. Our goal was to make it across the lake to some rock formations and do some cliff jumping.

It was a picture-perfect day, with a nice breeze and calm water. We started across and it was not long before I felt like I was paddling my kayak through cement.

I was working twice as hard to make any progress as Susanne and our friends were gliding along with ease and far in front of me only stoking my competitive spirit.

After a good while of intense paddling and pouring sweat, I arrived at our destination completely gassed and in my head was wondering if I needed to shed a few pounds?

As I got out of my kayak, I realized that the dry bag I had hooked to the back had fallen in the water. Because it was pretty loaded, it was serving as an anchor and made the paddling that much more difficult.

The issue wasn’t the kayak or even me; it was the baggage I was holding onto that was weighing me down.

This is not too different from our lives.?We strive to move forward. We want to get unstuck. We desire to get more from life but it feels like a struggle and no matter how hard we try, we make little progress.

Maybe you need to let go of some baggage. Maybe you need to drop the emotional and mental anchors that are weighing you down so you can really start living.

As we head into the weekend, my encouragement is to take an inventory of what you may be holding onto - perhaps it is a bad relationship, unforgiveness, hurt, or an incorrect view of yourself and let it go.

It is not serving you and much like the dry bag; it is holding you back.??

On The Journey With You,

Carlos