My husband and I were at the airport waiting for a connecting flight when we saw the sign. It asked about the size of our baggage and the measurements included were to help us know if what we carried was too big.
The double meaning was not lost on us. Are we carrying around baggage the size of a small personal item? Maybe it’s larger, like a carry-on we need to stow overhead. Or, in some cases, it might have to be checked with the oversized pieces.
There was a time when the emotional baggage I carried was too large to be contained in the dimensions specified on this sign. It seems ironic to have carried around something too big to fit in a carry-on bag.
Past hurts, regrets, resentments and more were weighing me down. I was dragging them around, letting the weight of my past impact my day-to-day life. The load was becoming too much to carry and I needed to find a way to permanently check at least part of it.
Forgiveness was the key to lightening my load. Not only did I need to extend this to others, I also had to forgive me. My past mistakes didn’t need to still be carried. I could learn from them and let them go. This didn’t happen overnight, but bit by bit, I was able to permanently check the majority of this baggage.
I’m sure I’ll accumulate more as I travel life’s journey. But, now that I know what to do with this excess weight, I’m travelling a lot lighter.