Bags Fly Free

The airline wars have increased in number and intensity over the past couple of years.  Carriers are all fighting for your dollars and with high hopes that you’ll fill their seats.  Low cost carriers have depended on their low fares as being enough, but the idea of paying for bags has increased many carriers ticket prices in the mind of the consumer.   Southwest Airlines “bags fly free” has saved me lots of money, but my life isn’t an airline carrier.

What am I getting at?  We all have baggage, and if our lives were like Southwest Airlines, we’d be carrying around our baggage without any negative consequences.  The fact of the matter is when we carry around baggage we do pay a price; physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 

I’ll give you an example.  Along with Surviving Strong, (www.survivingstrong.com) I’ve had a portion of my business that has caused me concern.  It has taken up a lot of my time, effort, energy, and money.  I kept telling myself that things would change, but I can tell you that after lugging this project up the mountain for seven years I finally reached my breaking point.

I got a call a few weeks ago from my website carrier and the customer service agent told me I had a few domains getting ready to expire and did I want to renew them.  At  that very moment I woke up and said, “NO”.  I decided in that very instant that I’d carried this project long enough and it was time to put it on a piece of ice, chop that block of ice off the glacier and let it float away.

How did this help me?  I felt lighter immediately.  I realized that I’d be better able to concentrate on aspects of my passion and work that excite me to the extreme.  I understood in that moment that release can be the best medicine for the soul.  I recognized and chuckled at the self-talk I’d engaged in for years believing that if I did just one more thing things would change.

I’m more focused.  I’m more attentive to the things that need my attention, like creating art that’s focused on the healing nature of the body and soul.  I don’t have competing thoughts so my energy can be more focused and the intensity of a laser is much greater than the intensity of a flood light.

What bags are you carrying around that you’d like to leave behind?  Bags don’t fly free in your life, so don’t keep paying for carting them around.  I’d love to hear what bags you’re going to send-off into the sunset on that piece of ice floating away.  Just hit the comment button and share what bags you’ve decided not to pay for any longer.