Unclaimed Baggage
Emotions: Get Rid Of Those That Don't Help You
I'm sharing this story about a previous chapter in my life in the hopes that you may read it and pass it along to someone else that needs to be inspired.
One day I woke up and found myself in an indescribable place. Well, more like an out of body trip. I couldn't figure out where I was going or how I got there but what I saw before me were these two big heavy bags, big enough to stuff a body in.
I wondered, "Where the hell am I and whose big ass bags are these?" So just out of curiosity, I opened the bags.
One was filled to capacity with fear, sadness, rejection, depression, worry, disgust, self-pity, low self-esteem, and anger while the other bag was also just as heavy. However when I opened it, to my surprise, it was empty.
In the bottom of the empty bag was a small note that read, "You will know what to do with this bag once the time is right."
So I'm thinking, "I not only don't know where I am or how I got there but now, I have to carry these two heavy bags around. Hell, do they even belong to me? I don't see my name on them. Who in the world would carry bags around like this?"
Suddenly a train appeared... "All aboard" shouted the engineer. I ran to the doors as they flung open and tried to get on the train but my bags just got in the way. I felt someone take the bags from me, to put them under the train. You could feel the bags hit the floorboard (THUMP).
Before the train could pull off, someone was escorting me off and back to my bags. "Madam I'm sorry, we have a weight capacity. Your bags are entirely too heavy to board the train. You can either leave them here or empty something out and wait for the next train."
So I took my bags and looked inside the full one to see what I would remove while I waited for the next train. I decided to remove sadness and put that in the empty bag for I was sure it weighed the most.
When the next train appeared I ran over to it, heavy bags and all. But still the same response from the conductor, "Bags too heavy."
Train after train I was being told the same thing. So I carefully removed each emotion from the one bag to place in the empty one. I didn't want to throw them away because I was just an overseer of the bags.
I am a responsible person you know. Whoever left me with these bags must really trust me to keep them and handle them with care. "Whose bags are these any way and how did I become responsible for them?" I shouted.
The last train appeared. Before I got on, I looked into what was once an empty, heavy bag but was now filled with all those emotions from the old bag and I zipped it up. Then I peered inside the now new empty bag and saw a mirror with a note attached.
I gazed at myself in the mirror and I looked tired. Hell I was tired! Tired of those bags! Tired of deciding which emotion I was going to get rid of for they all were heavy. Then I realized those use to be my emotions, all bagged up with nowhere to go. I carried them around tucked and hidden away, just in case I needed to use them again one day.
I stopped gazing in the mirror only to read the note attached, "Keep this bag and carry it with you thru your journey, for this is where you will store your hopes, dreams, passion, faith, blessings, and possibilities. Never close this bag or you'll miss the opportunity to spill some of these new emotions onto someone else who needs them too."
Quickly I ran over to the train with my newly lighter bag with a big smile on my face. And as I boarded, I heard a voice in the distance say, "Madam you left your other bag."
I smiled and winked and said, "I have my bag!"
For you see, I don't know who that bag belongs to now... just know that it's no longer mine.
Copyright © 2011 Tisha Lundy
I'm a licensed massage therapist, licensed nail tech, and entrepreneur. I wrote this story after a friend asked me if I was bitter from my previous separation/divorce. Even though it was a dramatic time in my life where I lost my smile, my voice, my power, and my hope - I am not bitter. Life is really about closing chapters and moving on. Since the road ahead is unknown, pack light because you never know when you'll have to help someone else along the way.
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