I hope that you will take time to watch this video, and take a minute and really think about all the baggage you are carrying in your life right now. If your like most people, you have a lot even if you didn't realize it right away.
This is a part in my life that I am working on right now; learning how to stop picking up new baggage, and how to let go of the old. Unfortunately it isn't as simple as this video appears to make it although I wish it was. I think sometimes we think through the idea of letting go of a bag, and it sounds great until we think "WAIT! I think I need (insert item here- love, money, friends, family, etc.) and it is in that bag! If I let go of it, my life is going to fall apart. Thanks but no thanks God, I can keep on carrying this one till I don't need it anymore."
It's frustrating. It's tiring. It's irritating. But yet we keep parading through life weighed down by all the bags we carry around. And just like the video says, we depend on others to take away the weight of our baggage. That just won't work. Even if they start carrying a bag for us, that means we expect them to be ready and available whenever we may need that bag. We take away their own time and abilities to deal with their bags because they are carrying ours. It's simply not fair to them. And if they refuse to jump on the baggage train, we treat them terribly and act like it is their fault when in reality we are the ones with the problems. Someone very important to me told me this phrase yesterday and it has really stuck with me, she said this:
"Marissa, No one can fix your problems for you. No one else can be held responsible for your actions and your choices. No one else can save you. You have to be the one to take steps to help yourself, because if you won't, no one else can do it for you. If you won't help yourself, no one else can help you at all."
Wow. There you have it folks. We can't hold others responsible for keeping our baggage under control. It is up to us, and up to God to get things under control. But you have to make that choice. No one else is going to make it for you.
So here is my random thought of the day, or more like a question of the day; What are you going to do with your baggage? Are you going to keep carrying it around and let it ruin your life and the lives of those around you? Or are you going to stand up and say "No. This is not how my story is going to end and I am going to change it."
It's up to you. I can't make you change your life. But I can tell you this- that once you start letting go of the baggage, your life truly begins to change in ways you would never expect. Letting go of baggage may mean doing things wayyy outside of your comfort zone: Going to counseling, having a hard conversation with someone, forgiving someone, getting help with an addiction, digging into your childhood and other past things that could be traumatic, or many other things.
God is calling you to something bigger than this and he desperately wants to help you with this so you can live a true life of freedom. He wants you to be able to run free, filled with joy from the life he has given you to live, but you can't run while you're holding suitcases. What are you going to choose today?
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