UNPACK YOUR BAGS

Many of us would rather dig through someone’s phone, social media, or somebody else’s bags instead of digging inside ourselves.

By Shay Cole

Beforeeverytrip,weplanouroutfits,shoes,accessories,make-up,andevenactivities.Weknow what we want to do and where we want to go. We research how much it costs and plan to add it toourbudget,whetherwecanaffordit.Whenit’stimetotravel,wefeellikewearepreparedwith everythingweneed.Alotoftimes,wetakemorethanweeverneedsimplybecauseitissoeasy tooverpackforatrip,especiallywhenthereareplannedthemesandactivitiestopackfor.

Traveling through life is no different. We makeplansforourfutureswhenwearejust barely getting over being afraid of the dark. Adults constantly ask children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” They expect a realistic answer from a child when they are still confused about the same decision. We pack our lives full of people, places,andthingsinanefforttopreparefor whatmaycome.

Each of us travels through life, reaching various milestones, learning valuable lessons, gaining noteworthy experiences, and constantly moving toward an intentionalgoal.

We gather tips and tricks that allow us to pack more into our bags as we travel along theway.Welearntorollourclothesinstead offoldingthemtohaveroomformore clothes to fit. We combine accessories with shoes to save space for our make-up. We adapt and accommodate so that we don’t have to leaveanythingbehind. truth of our situations because the lie feels better.Nevertheless,wekeepgoing.

However, throughout our travels, we not only gain, but we also lose. We gain people, and we lose people; we gain things, and we lose things; sometimes,wegainmoreofourselves,butmost times, we lose ourselves. During the process, we often try to hold on to things that we need to let go of, and we take things for granted when we are blessed with them. We avoid the truth of our situations because the lie feels better. Nevertheless,wekeepgoing.

Every time we return from an expedition, we notice something different. Sometimes about ourselves and sometimes about others. We tend to pay more attention to the changes we notice in others more than ourselves, though. We allow ourselves to be last on the list of things we pay attention to. Most of the time, that’s because we are used to it. We are used to ignoring ourselves and giving our full attention to everyoneandeverythingelse.

Many of us would rather dig through someone’s phone, social media, or somebody else’s bags instead of digging insideourselves.

Our travels through the trenches teach us endurance.Ourvacationstoparadiseteach us appreciation. Our journey through adolescence to adulthood teaches us adaptation. Every trip we take on the voyage of life adds weight to our bags. As we learn and grow, we have to know what to keep packed and what to leave at our destinations.

We have to discern between what is beneficial to us and what is blocking us from our full potential. Every so often, we havetolookatouritineraryandensurethat weareonschedule.

Our bags sometimes get heavy with pain, hurt, humiliation, depression, anxiety, frustration, etc. We can decrease the weight of our bags, or we can pay extra to lug them around. No one knows what we are carrying in our bags. No one knows how what is in our bags affects us. No one knows how to make our bags lighter for us. Forthesereasons,wemustdigthroughthe bagsandputawayourthings.

Many of us hold onto things and carry them around because we don’t want to deal with them. We often have the propensity to weigh ourselves down with it rather than unpack it. Unpacking sounds difficult because sometimes it signifies that the trip hasendedandyouhavetoreturntoreality. Whenyoulookatitasifyou’recleaningout your bags from the last trip in order to prepare for the next one, it tends to relieve some of that pressure. Unpacking is a necessary part of traveling. When we go away for a week or longer, we have to unpacktosettleintothevacantspace.

Unpackinginthatsituationdoesn’tlendtoa pejorative reaction. It actually excites us because we are thinking about all the great things that will happen on the trip. Funny howperceptiondrasticallychangesthings.

When you dig through your bags and take out what you don’t need, it frees up space. Whenyoudigthroughyourlifeandtakeout the things that you don’t need, it frees up peace.Justletthatsitforaminute.Manyof us would rather dig through someone’s phone, social media, or somebody else’s bagsinsteadofdigginginsideourselves.

Now, everybody wants to talk about protecting peace, but they don’t tell you how they reached the place of peace in the first place. Peace is often acquired after pain. It is often the aftermath of proper unpacking, including putting your things awayandthrowingthemaway.

Traveling is so much fun and creates so many memories. To be honest, that’s the best part! However, it’s not the only part. We have to plan, pack, travel, unpack, and resetforeverytripwetake.

So my question to you is, would you rather pay extra for heavy bags full of things you don’tneedorlightenyourload?