Boxes

When I was young my dad was moving up in his profession.  Pops was with the railroad and made his reputation by taking bad jobs in the company and turning them into moneymakers.  Because the railroad was struggling, we moved quite a bit.  So, every couple of years he would come into my room with a box and said, everything that fits in the box travels the rest we leave here.

Moving so much did two things for me, I became mentally strong and I learned to travel light.  I still don’t pine for former homes; my house is where I live … now.  And I am very low maintenance as far as personal items.  I wear my wedding ring and a G-Shock watch with a stopwatch function and 5 alarm settings.  I just added a beaded bracelet that I received at the Sengakuji Temple in Tokyo, Japan where the 47 Ronin are buried.  Very utilitarian.  

What I don’t carry with me is a lot of other people’s baggage.  If we want to live our best life, we can not be burdened, and held back, by other people’s baggage.  We need to release that which does not propel us forward.  We must understand those who are around us that want to help us and those who want to hold us back.  

I also don’t carry around a lot of my baggage.  I have found that if I continue to dwell on an issue that I can get stuck.  And as my book, Move or Die, points out, getting stuck is not a good thing.  What I do to alleviate the issue of becoming baggage is to make sure that I have done everything in my power to make the wrong a right.  If it’s between me and another person, and they can’t move on … I will.  If it is a decision that I have made I feel confident in my decision-making process that I did not do it out of spite or to hurt someone, so I let it go.  

Baggage is not a good thing, so get rid of it.