HOW HEAVY IS YOUR BAGGAGE?

This is the season for traveling. Choosing your destinations, obtaining a plan, choosing the airline. One of the last items on your list may be packing. Deciding what to take, and how to pack, is important.

At some airports, for baggage, there is a 50lb weight limit. Anything over that amount, there is a fee. At home, the luggage is weighed, and it is over the limit. What do you do?

• Take away items. Removing items, without thought, can be a problem later. Needed items may be removed and unnecessary items may be packed.
• Divide the load. If the items are separated into multiple pieces of luggage, the problem of over the limit may be solved, but a different problem has occurred. At some airlines, there is a charge for multiple pieces of luggage.
• Repack using the same items. You didn’t really solve the problem, you only rearrange the same items.
• Choose and airline that does not charge for over the limit or multiple bags. This can be the method many people may choose, however, what happens if you can’t get a flight on that airline? And some of these airlines, if you compare the amount of the airline ticket, to other airlines, you may discover, their prices may be higher than other airlines, because the luggage fees have been incorporated into the price.
• Learn how to pack.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1:5 (KJV).

How heavy is your baggage?

Baggage is a term to reflect certain emotions, circumstances and consequences of life. A person with baggage reflects holding on to the circumstances of the past or present, making life more difficult by carrying around unresolved issues.

Using the compare and contrast of carrying baggage on a trip and carrying baggage in life.

• Take away items. Hastily, you have stripped yourself of the good and allowing the bad to remain. Before the issue, you were easy going, now you have become hard and unwilling. You may have been hurt, now you have declared no one will hurt you again. You may find yourself punishing innocent people, for the sins of someone else.
• Divide the load. You may shift your emotions into different compartments. For the world, you have not changed, but you have allowed resentment, hurt, anger and other negative feelings to seep, into the compartment of your heart. In your heart, they will fester and one day they will be released.
• Repack using the same items. This may be when you continue to rehash and relive the past. Basking in negativity. Never fully seeing the good, where you are, only seeing what things were like before You continue to shift the same issues and challenges. Trying anything new is avoided, when you think about the old things tried and they did not work out. Unresolved issues of the past will result in destruction, in the futures.
• Go to a different airline. Jumping into another venture without resolving or addressing the old problems is the root of many life challenges. Example: Your partner leaves you. You are feeling lost. Then, you discover they cheated on you, betrayal and bitterness seeps into your heart. Later, you see them with another partner, envy, jealously and anger follow. Never fully addressing the emotions on the old relationship, you jump into a new relationship. You may be carrying the baggage of the old, into the new. You may find yourself punishing your new partner with the crimes of the old partner. The relationship eventually ends. You are seeking a new partner, carrying heavier baggage. The cycle continues.
• Learn how to pack. We all have suffered loss and failures, but we must educate and arm ourselves with positive methods to gain and success. Let’s stop carrying baggage in life. Let’s learn how to pack.

 

Get: H.A.P.P.Y. Honesty Accountability Patience Preparation Yield

H-Honesty- Be honest with yourself. This may be hurtful. This is the step to dig deep and discover how you truly are. Be careful of this step, going to friends and family (which we usually do) may do more harm, than good. Some people may be cruel, or brutally honest, unleashing some unresolved issues in their life, on you. Doing it alone, we only want to scratch the surface. I suggest God. God will assist you in getting into the deep crevices of the soul and heart. Assisting you in remembering and coming to terms with your feeling. Identifying areas to address and improve. Being honest may be the hardest, but it’s the most helpful. If you lie and put up a façade on for yourself, you will lie and put up a façade to others.

A- Accountability. Take account of your actions and your part in the situation. You may want to shift all the blame on the other person or the situation. It may make you feel better, but nothing is accomplished. Or, you may want to place all the blame on yourself. This method is unproductive, because it breeds guilt and condemnation. Ignoring the issue is just as bad. Whatever, the situation, you played a role, either you allowed it, didn’t stop or should have done something differently. It is rarely just one person’s fault. Take account, at least, for your role in the situation.

P-Patience. This process may take time. Don’t jump into a new venture, with unresolved feelings. Learn to wait and get things figured out. Impatience is a strong trait many people have adopted. Everyone wants what they want, now. No one wants to wait. We need to learn to slow our roll and catch our breath, before leaping into something new, especially when there are issues to be addressed.

P-Preparation. Get ready for the next venture in life. Life does not just happen. You prepare for it. If you don’t prepare for the life you want, someone or something will prepare it for you, and it may not be what you want. Get ready.

Y-Yield. Yield means to give in. Stubbornness is unyielding. Don’t be stubborn. Surrender to God’s guidance. Many times, He alerts you to dangers that you often walk directly into because of your stubbornness or pride.  Yield to His correction and discipline. Yield to be a better you.

Learn from past mistakes, but don’t carry the weight of them in the future. If you do, you may become damaged, or lost.