Coming in at No. 3... Are You Carrying Too Much Baggage For The New Decade? #CoffeewithColm Top 5 2019

Are you carrying too much baggage for your journey? Well? Are you?

I was reading a devotional I use, during the week and I came across something I thought worth reflecting on for myself and yourself.

"A man on a march on earth carries only what he needs for that march. Would you pity him if you saw him bearing too the overwhelming weight of the worn-out shoes and uniforms of past marches and years? And yet, in the mental and spiritual life, man does these things. Small wonder [the]... world is heartsick and weary."

It caught my attention.

I think it's a wonderful analogy.

Picture an old soldier dragging along all his old boots, uniforms, rucksacks etc on his march today. Would you feel sorry for him? I don't think so.

Yet, that's what we do in our mental lives, that's what we do in our spiritual lives, that's what we do in our emotional lives all the time. We cling onto stuff from our past, carrying it with us year after year after year. And then we expect everyone around us to help us carry that burden! Not really the right thing to do, is it?

To find where I am going with this, watch the five-minute video, listen to the five-minute podcast, or read on below...

Let's be honest with ourselves? Do we hang on to old baggage? Yes we do, many of us are masters at it. And, whatever about us hanging on to our old baggage, the problem is, as I mentioned earlier, we expect everyone around us, friends, family, colleagues, anyone who'll put up with us or listen to us, to help us carry what is ultimately, our load.

We've got to ask, "What's worth keeping, and what's worth losing?"

If it's not serving your higher purpose, leave it behind. Do you even know what your higher purpose is?

If the old mental and emotional boots, the old uniforms, the old rucksacks, the old stuff is worn out, maybe it's time to let it go, leave it in the past where it belongs? In so doing you will free up your hands, free up your mind, free up your heart, free up your soul to look forwards instead of backwards. Maybe it's finally time to cut it loose, let it go, leave it by the side of the road where it belongs, and march on.

Whole new world will open up; we will be lighter in ourselves, we will stand a tad more upright, be more focused, able to move a little faster, and march on.

I think it's worth considering.

"A man on a march on earth carries only what he needs for that march. Would you pity him if you saw him bearing too the overwhelming weight of the worn-out shoes and uniforms of past marches and years? And yet, in the mental and spiritual life, man does these things. Small wonder [the]... world is heartsick and weary."

You wouldn't feel sorry for him.

Maybe it's time for a change?

By the way, I pen these weekly #CoffeewithColm articles as much for me, as for any of my readers. They force me to think through my own stuff and then I share what I am learning for others to consider. I am delighted, honored and privileged that many of you check in weekly, or periodically to connect with my musings. Thank you. The one truly irreplaceable resource for you and me is time, so I appreciate your giving me five minutes of yours to join me for a coffee and a think.

But I think out loud about this stuff, the stuff I bump into on my journey, mainly because I need to hear it too. I'm not immune to carrying baggage from the past. My life isn't perfect. Your life isn't perfect. Does perfect exist? Not down here for sure.

So we really need to learn from each other, ask what's not serving us well, cut ties with anything that is holding us back so that we can serve ourselves better first and foremost. Then, using the principles of POYOOMF (Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First) and knowing that self-care is not selfish, we look after ourselves better and as a consequence we can be of better service to those around us.

The opposite is, you or me carrying too much baggage, expecting everyone around us to help us. The risk is some people may eventually get tired of that and move on.

It is said that everyone lights up a room; some when they enter and some when they leave! I think we are all on a spectrum of lighting up rooms on entering or leaving, depending on the day, our mood, etc, but the question is which are are we most often - what's our default setting?

So, I'll leave you this week withe the question, are you carrying baggage that you have no right to carry, no reason to carry, that you should have left down long ago? And, if you are, fine. Do something about it now.

When was the best time to plant a tree? twenty years ago. When is the next best time? Today.

END.

Thanks for thinking with me.

Yours truly.

Colm

Watch | Listen | Read | Think.

Did you enjoy that? Fancy a sip of some of my recent “Coffee with Colm” Blog posts:

• The fascinating history of "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON", click here.
• Apparently most deathbed regrets are around things left undone, risks not taken (or why we need to be braver), click here.
• I'm never down. I'm either up or I'm getting up. (or why it's ok to not be ok at times) - click here.

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