"Weary travelers, you've seen them. Everything they own crammed into their luggage. Staggering through terminals and hotel lobbies with overstuffed suitcases, trunks, duffels, and backpacks.
Backs ache. Feet burn. Eyelids droop. We've all seen people like that with if not physical luggage then at least with their spiritual load. We all lug loads that we were never intended to carry. Fear. Worry. Discontent.
No wonder we get so weary. We're worn out from carrying that excess baggage. Wouldn't it be nice to lose some of the bags?--Max Lucado, from "Traveling Light"
Many times as I've written this blog, I have mentioned throwing off a heavy backpack or two or three. They were ones with heavy burdens inside them that I thought I should carry all by myself and for years I did. It feels good to have them off my shoulders and although it would be stretching it to say I am "baggage free" this day, I do know how important it is to keep trying to lighten my load.
About this, "travel light" idea....it's something I've been thinking about for a long time now, dare I say as much as the last 3 years. This kind of travelling "light" has to do in part with finally realizing how much physical "stuff" a person accumulates in their entire life. As I sit here tonight and look around my house, I have more "stuff" than would ever be needed by one person.
Just for an example, I have two dining room tables complete with chairs and by my count earlier this evening, I have 20 different table cloths that I could use to cover them with. I have matching placemats for each of those different colored table cloths with enough good dishes and silverware to set a table for about 50 guests. And that's just a start.
If you look in my closets, you'd find 14 different pairs of shoes, clothes for both cold and warm weather and enough coats that I could wear a different one each day of the week. My house is warm, there is more than enough food in the cupboards to eat, and in the morning I'll get up and go to a job that I love. Oh my dear friends, I am really blessed.
Sometimes our "excess" just comes around and gives us a "smack" on the face, a thump in the head from God. And the message delivered is this: "What do you really need to survive in this life? How much will EVER be enough?" The answer is becoming more and more clear to me.
A couple of years back, I woke up one Saturday morning and had the strangest message enter my head. I was lying there in bed and the first thing that caught my eye was the collection of angels that were arranged on a shelf on the wall of my bedroom. It was weird..because the first thing I thought of was this: "Peggy, you have too many angels. It's time to give them away." Now friends, I loved those angels, perhaps too much. I was always on the lookout for my next new angel to buy. It didn't matter if they were a little bit on the costly side because I figured it would be my "treat" to myself. The truth be known, I coveted them. And the real truth was, that I could live them without them.
I packed all 50 of them up that very morning and arranged to display them at school the next week and if anyone wanted to "adopt" one they could take it....I only asked that if they adopted one that they would leave a small offering to be given to our hospice here in Hutch. Within two days, they were all adopted out and the hospice was given $250. The most beautiful thing was that the hospice didn't keep the money for themselves. They turned the entire amount over to a family that was in great need because of a family member being very ill with cancer. And the blessings just kept on going, from one hand to the other and to still yet another.
I'm going to be spending the next few months, probably wearing a beautiful and stylish long-arm cast after surgery at the end of next week. One of my new bucket list goals for that time of recuperation is to finally sit down and figure out just what I need to survive in this life, physically. I intend to start travelling lighter, to have less stuff to have to worry about and take care of. By lightening my load, I hope to be able to concentrate on things that are most important to me in this life.
I can only speak for myself in this friends. But hey, a show of hands here...How many of you have a lot of "excess" yourself? I'm counting, and hey, I knew I wasn't alone. We probably all do. I always asked God to just give me enough and He ended up giving me that and then some. I look forward to travelling light because I know it's going to lead me to some very interesting places in the very near future. And the less unnecessary stuff that I have, the easier the journey will be. Take care of yourselves this evening my dear friends. And as my favorite TV personality of all time, Red Green, would say...."I'm pulling for you guys. We are all in this together." Good Night!
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