Lighten Your Load

 Have you heard the story of the teacher who had each of her students bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes to class?

 For every person they had refused to forgive in their life’s experience, they took a potato, wrote the person’s name and date on it, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of their bags were very heavy.
The teacher then told the students to carry this bag with them for an entire week. They were to keep it beside their bed at night, on the car seat when driving, and next to their desks at work.

The hassle of lugging the bag with them made it obvious to see what a heavy weight they had been carrying spiritually.

They realized how they had to pay attention to it all the time so that they would not forget it and leave it in embarrassing places. Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a rotten mess--just like the condition of actual resentments...

We pay a great price for holding on to the pain of resentments and heavy negativity. Too often, we think of forgiveness as a gift to other people. It is clearly a gift to us. We release ourselves only when we release others from the prison of our minds.

Carrying around resentments does not harm the people at whom we direct the resentments. These people cannot read our minds. Resentments do not alter yesterday’s situations; they only harm the person who holds the resentments--today. They steal the joy from this day—a day that we could fill with aliveness.

So how can we unburden ourselves of heavy, negative resentments so that we can move forward, traveling light? We can begin by observing our thoughts and emotions instead of identifying with them.

 Imagine holding a rubber ball, and squeezing it tightly until your hand starts to burn. Like any thought, the ball is not actually part of you, and it is certainly not you. However, the harder you squeeze the ball, the more discomfort you feel. If you open your hand, the ball will fall to the floor.
You can also release thoughts as quickly as an object held in the hand--if you choose. Take a deep breath and mentally open your hand. Without judgment or resistance, simply observe thoughts that hold no value for the future. Allow them to be, and allow them to pass. Doing so sets you free to travel light. It grants the freedom and renewed vitality to live fully today.

In the words of Lewis Smedes (1921-2002), "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you."