Emotional Baggage and a Little Spring Cleaning

Baggage is getting expensive lately. Been on a flight lately and had extra baggage? Jeez! Who's making the money on that one? The airlines are forcing us to re-evaluate our packing patterns, aren't they? Have you ever gone on a trip and not worn 1/2 of what was in your bag?

Baggage is getting wasteful. We are accumulating a lot of "stuff" in our lives. We have so much more than we need. Ever go through your closet and really look and realize you don't wear 1/2 of what is hanging up?

And what about emotional baggage? What emotions are trapped in our minds and what emotions are trapped in our body? Childhood pains, broken relationships, failed goals, anger with someone. Where is it all stored? Is it in our mind or our body - or a little of both?

Spring is blooming in Atlanta. It's beautiful, just beautiful. Green everywhere, flowers, trees, the city is absolutely alive with freshness and life. A perfect time to do a little bit of Spring cleaning. Clean out the clutter, clear out the accumulation, get rid of the extra baggage. I love and I hate Spring cleaning! I love the results and how fresh and open my house is afterwards, but I hate doing the actual cleaning.  I love the feeling of not feeling messy or cluttered, but I hate going through things that I may or may not need or want. But it is a necessary and rewarding part of life. In the end, I feel much better and happier when I only have what I need and want.

So what about some emotional Spring cleaning? How can we clean out our mind and in the process, clear our body?

Well, let's take cleaning out a closet as an example. I know, fun stuff, but you know you feel better after you do it...You take 3 bags with you:
1. Throw away - these are items you have not used or worn in the last year. Outdated, torn, ugly.
2. Give away - these are items that you just do not wear or use, but that are in reasonable shape and someone else could use them.
3. Keep and take care of.

Each item in your closet goes in Bag #1 or #2 and everything left over is #3. How much do you put in bags #1 and #2? Quite a bit, isn't it? Seasons change, our bodies change, styles change. It all adds up to clearing out the clutter, giving to others and then we can see the beautiful things we have remaining and can focus on that.

We can do that emotionally too. 

Let's take that emotional clutter: Childhood pains, broken relationships, failed goals, anger with someone. Now let's go to cleaning, take 3 bags with you:
1. Throw away - these are thoughts and memories you have not used or worn in the last year, but they stay with you. Outdated, torn, ugly. Past pains, failures, things from the past that are not good for you, but you just can't get rid of. Release them, what's past is past, concentrate on the future. Just throw them away.
2. Give away - these are thoughts and memories that you just do not wear or use, but that are in reasonable shape and someone else could use them. Wasted emotions - anger, jealousy, resentment. What's the use of holding onto them? Now don't give these to someone else, who needs that? But give them away. Give the power of those emotions away. Picture blowing them into a balloon, tying a knot in the balloon, then going outside and releasing the balloon.
3. Keep and take care of. Take stock of what you have. Do you have a house? Do you have a family? Do you have a job? Take care of what you have. Make it as pretty as you can. Love what you have.

Emotional clutter can definitely affect your body. Holding onto emotions, holding onto stress, holding onto past events that keep you back from living in the present. Release that clutter, let go of the emotions, and THEN and only THEN, can you truly get rid of your baggage and start anew with your body.

Spring cleaning anyone?