Pack Light!

Bag lady you gone hurt your back

Dragging all them bags like that

I guess nobody ever told you

All you must hold on to

Is you, is you, is you 

 

 

Erykah Badu had a song out a few years ago called "Bag Lady." When this song came out, I was young, so I did not , fully understand the concept of what Ms. Badu was talking about. I love her music, so for me it was a catchy tune! Fast forward to adulthood and the song not only made sense, I also realized that I had accumulated several bags myself. Girlfriends, those bags, were massive!!! Every single time we get hurt we add a bag, or  brick to a bag we are already carrying.

This song is an excellent metaphor for what many of us go through with holding on to habits, behaviors, lies, hurts and the list can really continue. Anything that hinders our spirit and causes us to feel bad, is what I would consider baggage. We carry the bags around, and they are very heavy, uncomfortable. Think about what baggage  is, for example, when you travel, and you have all these bags. Going to the airport, you can get tired, worn out, out of breathe. IT’S HEAVY!! Same thing for emotional baggage. Why would we want to carry anything that hurts and holds us down, until we can't breathe? I sure do not! And neither do you.

 

Girlfriends, when we hold on to baggage it does hurt. I had to think critically about it like this: the people or the thing that hurt me is still functioning and being productive in life. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here hurting bad dragging the baggage everywhere. In my romantics relationships, friendships, at work, and with my family. I had no energy for life. Everything began to be too cumbersome. The bags also begin to weigh heavily on the people around. Then it becomes unfair because now you are affecting innocent people around you. I know for me, I did not notice how it was taken a toll on other persons. How my circumstances would ultimately lead people to have to bail me out, or maybe they just were depressed looking at me and my misery. Whatever the case maybe, those bags were in my way big time.

Truth is a lot of us are not able to face our baggage. Sadly some of us are just in a denial. So then, we mask it and try to hide the baggage, which leads to pretending that we are fine. I remember when one of my attempts at therapy revealed that I was not doing a good job  hiding the bags. See because she was emotionally healthy she could feel my despair. The first thing she told me was I had a presence that was hefty. Not only could she see my bags, they we heavy to her being in my presence. So apparently I wasn't hiding very well. It was disheartening, but a turning point in my life as well. So I am forever grateful for that experience. There is freedom. The first thing is to accept responsibility for your life, exactly where you are. When I begin to do this, I started to be delivered. Now I must warn and say this does not  feel great. Especially when I had to realize I was a messed up individual. I even shudder at it now. We cannot be delivered from the emotional pain and heaviness of the baggage without God. The good news is he has promised to restore us to whole. Girlfriends, you have to believe he will do it! The extra baggage will not falloff overnight, and there is no time limit as to when you have to recover. The truth for many of us is we many fall victim to some of our old habits. My entire healing was a process, and it is a process that is still going on. I am a lot better, a whole lot better.

 

One day all them bags gone get in your way

One day all them bags gone get in your way

I said one day all them bags gone get in your way

One Day all them bags gone get in your way 

The truth about baggage is that it ultimately leads to destruction in areas of our lives when we could be more productive. No two people are the same, so how people deal with baggage could be different. Some behaviors that could be a mask is over/under eating, sexual promiscuity, alcohol or drug abuse, displaced anger or even overspending. The baggage can cause us to lead destructive lives one of the reasons to that it has to be let go. The bags get in your way.

 I found a list on intouch.org that breaks down the issues that arise when we carry around extra baggage in our lives.

 1. A poor self-image. Negative comments can cause us to doubt our value.

2. A defeatist attitude. If we think we're beaten by our circumstances, we'll never try.

3. Feelings of rejection. Being devalued by others is painful and leaves us feeling unworthy.

4. Perfectionism. If we think everything must be done flawlessly, we won't take risks. 

5. A fear of failure. We'll miss excellent opportunities from God if we let anxiety hinder us. 

6. Procrastination. Putting off tasks keeps us from accomplishing our goals. 

7. A lack of self-control. If we can't control our impulses, we're easily persuaded and led off track. 

8. A lack of concentration. When our minds drift, we can't accomplish much.

9. A negative attitude. Pessimism has an adverse impact on our work and relationships. 

10. A suspicious attitude. Being suspicious of others' motives keeps us from accepting love and friendship. 

11. Indecision. The inability to make decisions prevents us from progressing. 

 

I found this list to be a perfect description of what could be the result if we continue to carry different types of baggage around.

For myself, all eleven of these issues were evident in my life. Which ultimately caused me to lose at life. Every area of my life was indeed suffering to the point my physical health and appearance were suffering. I let all types of anxiety and depression just take over my life. I am so happy God rescued me. So happy. Nothing is worth carrying the load of all those bags. Especially when we do not have to. 

"Sometimes the past should be abandoned, yes. Life is a journey, and you can't carry everything with you. Only the usable baggage." ~Ha Jin

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. (Psalms 147:3 NLT)

I had to put what I could not fix before God and beg for his help; then I had to believe that he would help me. When we ask for Gods help, we MUST believe that he will fix it, without our interfering. When Jesus died, he wiped away any sin that would arise, but also the effects of the sin from our harmful past.

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. (Isaiah 53:5 NLT)

Leave the past behind us and move forward, in other words, drop the bags so you can have your best life. I love to read and write naturally, so I used what I knew and loved to help me heal. It worked. I believe in therapy and group therapy as well. It helps. I figured that these people do not know me so what would be the harm in opening up and trying to some other perspectives. The truth is being alone is not going to help the healing process, we need others around. We need people to pray for us, to talk to us, and keep us encouraged.

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16 NLT)

I must admit being obedient to James 5:16, was extremely hard for me, because one of the bags I carried was distrust. I  felt like I could not trust anyone with my issues enough to ask for prayer. Surely I would be judged! The only person I trustis my mother and I did not want her to be even more disappointed in me for things that I suffered with still (which by the way, was a delusional thought. My mom rocks and now I know will help me through any setback). I just  felt like ashamed and embarrassed. I told God that I could not comply with this scripture (funny? Huh?) I was too scared to confess my sins to anyone. My God had a plan for action, and he sent me a group of women to support me through my tough journey. They still are my biggest supporters to date! My good, GREAT girlfriends. When I am weak they are strong, and it goes both ways.

 

I have to admit I have some amazing people that love me. I often felt so alone, but that is an old trick of the enemy, to isolate you and then pounce.....anyway. One critical factor that I know is we have to begin to look at our past and the pain in a different way, once we begin to heal the bags get released and is no longer heavy. The past is not so hard to look back at. As I sit and write today, I can honestly say that some events in my life I am still hurting from. Most of the pain has healed, but what I am confident of today is that God is going to restore me. I know I have to one day believe Roman 8:28 in the whole sense of what the scripture is saying. I believe that it is true, I just struggle with some pain from the past. This pain I cannot see right now how it benefits or helped who I am today, this pain I cannot look back and see it as anything but pain. YET! Being thankful, grateful, and trusting God makes this pain hurt less.

 

Pray! Pray! And pray some more about what is haunting your life. What is it that you cannot release? I challenge you today to line those bags up one by one, and begin to unpack. Lighten your load. Pack Light.

 

Xoxo "Vita"