Through accident or some strange quirk of fate, I’ve met several people (not clients) this last week who all happened to mention that they had a lot of “baggage” they were carrying.

The interesting thing is that only one them actually believes that the baggage they are carrying is disposable. The others are all holding on tight to theirs, knowing it is doing them no favours, but treating it as precious cargo regardless. Some of them are holding tight because they genuinely believe that there is no way out for them.

I think we’ve all done this from time to time. Sometimes, we need to keep this baggage with us. We went through a lot to “earn” it and we can’t just drop it, because surely that would mean trivialising what happened. And who wants to trivialise something that important?

The great thing to realise when we say we are carrying baggage is that we only start calling it Baggage when a part of us is ready to move on from it. Until this point, we don’t really think of it in that way. Until this point, it’s still something we are very much a part of.

So, when you’ve given that pain the B name, remind yourself that if it was precious cargo, it wouldn’t be hurting.

What is Baggage?

Baggage is a collection of a whole load of different things and emotions.  They get in the mind and all they want is to be acknowledged. We don’t always acknowledge things when we should so they fester and poke and prod.  They weigh heavy in our soul and taint the way we view our current opportunities. Left too long, the body joins in with aches, pains and even illness.

Facing and acknowledging the pieces of the baggage in the way that they deserve, allows us to understand the message they contain. It allows us to appreciate our true depth. It also allows us to kind of pay it its last respects so that it can move on… so that you can move on.

Integrity & Honour

There’s a way of letting go of baggage. If it’s done with integrity and honour to your inner self, you feel lighter and you notice that old and unhelpful patterns are broken.

The process involves understanding that the part of you that is feeling the emotional pain is hurting because of an underlying need. Empowering yourself through identifying and addressing this underlying need is going to play a major part in helping you to release this baggage with integrity.

A fundamental principle of NLP states that “A person is not their behaviour”. Appreciating this principle as fully as possible is going to play a major part in helping you to honour both yourself and anyone else involved as you release your baggage. This becomes incredibly important where your baggage involves other people (especially family members, past relationships and people who have died).

The Paradox of Reality is that the precious cargo was indeed there all along. It reveals itself once you have taken the letting-go process through to completion. The precious cargo is a profound freedom and strength.

You can also visit me at ReetaLuthra.com. It's full of information to help you address stress and work on reversing the impact of stress on your health.

 

Filed under: Personal Development

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