What's in the Backpack of your Life?

Where are you going? Where are you headed? And what are you carrying with you? 

What’s in the backpack of your life?

Do the burdens you choose to carry with you in your life make the walking easier or harder?

Have the commitments you’ve made on your time, talents, and abilities burdened you more than they are worth? Or do they set you free and allow your soar free in some form of expression that would otherwise be denied you?

EVERYTHING in your life you carry with you: people, places, things, commitments, responsibilities, inadequacies, strengths, and weaknesses. All of these things take shape in our lives as the things and commitments we choose to fill our lives with. The more things we carry the heavier our load and fewer options we have when it comes to distance and freedom of travel. The more commitments we take which consume our time and resources, both of which are limited, the more we define our lives. And ultimately owning things is a commitment of our time and resources for do we not have to upkeep, store, protect and preserve our things?

EVERYTHING we carry with us represents a commitment of our time and resources. When backpacking we commit our energy to carry, with each step, the burden we have placed upon our back. It is the same in life.

I am not advocating that you have no things or that  you strive to have no commitments on your time or resources. What I am asking you to consider is the weight of the things in your life. How much of your time and resources do those things and commitments consume? Is it worth it? Do they lead you towards the expression and realization of your dreams in life? Do they lead you towards the destination of your heart? Do they allow you the freedom to enjoy the journey as you go or do they trap you within the requirements of their needs?

No matter where we go our problems will follow us. We carry them with us, and they are represented by the things and commitments we choose to carry in our lives. That which we carry with us shapes us just as surely as a potter shapes his clay.

In 2010 I hiked what is called the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I hiked 800 km (or approximately 500 miles) on the Camino Frances crossing over the Pyrenees in France across the north of Spain to a little town called Santiago. Along the way I learned many lessons which have served me well over the years. The first was but a continuation of a lesson I learned at Anasazi: What I choose to carry changes the experience of my walking.

If I choose to carry many things, that I may at some point want or need, I simultaneously choose to commit myself to slower, harder, journey carrying those things.

If, conversely, I carry only what I truly need and release my attachment to all those other things that while they may be very beneficial or useful in some way, even comforting, truly do nothing but slow me down and make my burden heavy.

When we lighten our load we hike with a joyful bounce to our step. When we release the burdens of our past, and set down the unnecessary burdens we place upon our own futures, we discover quickly that our joy is increased.

The question I ask you to consider is: Do the things and commitments of your life that you have chosen to carry serve you or hinder you in the pursuit of your destiny? Are the benefits provided worth the costs? 

If they are then please continue to carry them! If they are not, let them go and move forward with renewed vigor, and a lighter pack, towards the destiny of which you are a part…

Set yourself FREE and set down the unnecessary burdens you have carried to this point! And remember, “Sometimes we need to set down our burdens and wait for our souls to catch up.”