There’s an old story of two men who are walking along when they encounter an old, feeble woman stopped at a stream. When the two men asked the woman why she was stopped, she answered that she was afraid to walk across the water because in her weakened frail condition she might slip and get swept away by the currents.
Sympathetic, the two men kindly lifted her up and carried her across the rushing water and then continued on their way.
A little while later, one of the men said, “I can’t believe that we agreed to carry that woman across the stream. Now, by back is killing me. His companion said nothing and kept walking.
Soon the first man began complaining again. “Why did we do such a foolish thing? I’m going to be hurting and sore for days!” Once again his companion said nothing. Noticing that his companion was not limping or showing any pain, the first man stopped and asked his friend, “Why don’t your back and shoulders hurt you?” Without any pause, the man answered, “Because I put the old woman down several miles ago.”
So my question to you is have you been carrying around something that you should have dropped long ago? Could it be a harsh remark, a failed relationship, or some sort of failure, betrayal or embarrassment?
Are you using this baggage as fuel to drive you toward something else, perhaps perceived success? Do you believe that someone who said you couldn’t succeed is now crying and miserable now, because you did?
There is an old saying that what someone else thinks of me is none of my business. In the same way, if a teacher, parent, boss, former lover, co-worker, or ex-friend mentioned something badly concerning you, why let that clutter up your world? Isn’t it time you shed that old baggage, forgave them, and moved on? Why not focus on your goals and not on past trash?
Could you let go? Would you let go? Ok, then when?
