Let it Go - Baggage

Every trip I take to the Dominican Republic with a team from our church, we always start out with 2 suitcases, riding on the brink of the 50 pound weight limit, because we bring down half a plane load of donated materials for construction projects and the school. (Yes, worth it.) We are literally hauling 100 pounds, plus a carry on to the airport baggage dump off. As a person with a 30 pound limit per my doctor's orders, I can tell you right now that dumping those bags off is the best feeling in the entire world...almost. The best feeling is dumping off the even heavier, more damaging emotional, mental, whatever baggage we all lug around.

I hate asking other people to carry around my 50 pound bags, because they also have their 100 pounds of bag. I hate having to stand aside when things need to be moved or put away that are just "too heavy" for me. UPS boxes at work. Tables that are left where ever that no one thought to move because you know...there's that girl who puts things away for everyone who gets paid and is there every day...(another rant for another day, folks). I don't want to take on that baggage, so why do I allow myself to carry emotional baggage that isn't only mine, but the doing of other people?

I think one of the hardest things to let go is our past. We dwell on mistakes and let them eat us to the point of disability from pursing other opportunities. I allow my past social flaws, my past medical histories, my past "idiot moments", to eat me. I kid you not - I was just thinking about something dumb I said to someone 14 years ago that was totally moronic, that still gives me that rock in my stomach to this day. The person I said it to probably doesn't even think about it anymore. I recall times I dropped the ball and now I hate picking other ones up. I remember times I made plans for a group and they didn't go well, and now I feel inadequate at booking hotels, flights, cars, budgets, etc. It is horrible. 

I also allow other people to dump their baggage on me. I have come to believe that if a person is having an "emergency" (ie: didn't get their piece of something completed), I HAVE to help them. It's only the compassionate thing to do, right? One of the perks of having a boss with "low empathy" as he states all the time, is that he is teaching me to set boundaries to keep other peoples' responsibilities off my mental breakdown load. "A lack of preparation on their part, does not constitute an emergency on my part." It is true. It may sound harsh, but it's actually for the best. If I continually bend over backwards for someone, will they ever learn to think ahead for themselves? It can be as simple as copies. It take me 40 seconds to do, so wouldn't be a big deal, but I do it all of the time, every week, for years...now I'm being taken advantage of. 

Baggage is harmful for all involved. It is something that debilitates you from moving forward, or enables another person to the point that they will never get themselves ahead and spend their lifetime always needing another person to do it for them. 

Just like it feels so refreshing to dump those heavy traveling bags, or throw off a sweatshirt on a hot day, it feels so amazing to throw off the emotional and mental baggage we carry around that weighs us down from doing what God calls us to do. He never intended for us to dwell on our mistakes or be taken advantage of by others who try to pawn theirs off on us. He wants us just the way we are, mistakes and all. So step out, use those mistakes to learn, to move on, and to help others move on from theirs.

Scripture to read:
Hebrews 12:1-3

Questions to ponder:
What kind of baggage are you carrying around?

How is this baggage possibly keeping you from hearing God and pursuing His direction for you?

What do you need to do to move past this baggage?