Weekly Wings... a weekly
coaching challenge to motivate and inspire you to realize your dreams
and achieve success! Join in the journey, and if you wish to share your
work, post it on your blog, and then leave a static link to the exact
page in the comments section.
Baggage Overload
You know what your dreams are, and perhaps you even have an idea of how you want to go about making them come true. Yet you find yourself stalling, feeling overwhelmed and unsure of how or where to start. Maybe you tell yourself that you'll get going "tomorrow," even though you wish you felt like starting today. So what's holding you back? If you're like most of us, it's the heavy baggage that you need to ditch before you can move forward. Now I'm not talking about the kind of baggage that falls into the categories of serious physical and emotional problems; those kinds of issues may require the help of medical or mental health professionals. I'm talking about baggage in the form of "stuff" - possessions, habits, behaviors, and relationships that take a great deal of time and energy from your life and its true purpose.
It takes energy and nurturing to foster personal growth. Yet often we find ourselves up against a variety of obstacles that keep us from steadily moving forward, much like rush hour traffic on a highway with a closed lane. We've all experienced that feeling of trying to get quickly from one place to another, but having to constantly put on the brakes and slow down to a crawl every few yards. We get edgy, we feel irritable; we may even lose our temper. And how does it feel by the time we finally reach our destination? Does it ever seem as if it weren't worth the trouble of the trip? The same idea applies to the heavy baggage (tolerations) in our lives that functions as speed bumps on our own personal highways.
This week's challenge is the first in a series that is designed to help you achieve the balance you need to go forward with clarity and power. Over the next several weeks, we will work on systematically eliminating the tolerations in the major areas of your life that slow your progress and keep you from living the best life you can imagine.
Your Call to Adventure
Think of your personal quest as a Hero's Journey. Perhaps you've already received your Call to Adventure - that realization of a gap or lack that exists in your life. This call can come in many forms - either negative or positive situations that reveal an unknown world - but is almost always preceded by that sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo. If you have accepted the call as an opportunity for change, you're on your way! And if you've been following the Weekly Wings challenges, you may already have visualized a clear picture of your destination, and have packed your Zen Suitcase™. The next step is to jettison the unnecessary extra bags you're dragging along behind, bags full of things, relationships, and situations that stand in your way and drain your energy.
Bountiful Universe
Your challenge this week is very simple - give something away! We receive more in our lives when we make room for it, so this week's challenge is to put that universal law into action by creating a space that can be filled with a positive gift from the universe. There are a few rules:
- Choose something that you've been holding on to for a long time (two or more years is a good starting point) because "it's too good to get rid of" or you "might want to use it someday." I'm not talking about something that is an important souvenir or special keepsake; I'm talking about something of quality or value (by this I mean it isn't just "junk") you've held on to out of habit. It's probably in a closet or on a shelf, and it's cluttering up your physical space. You know what I'm talking about!
- Acknowledge that you're keeping it as a symbol of something that is no longer relevant in your life, and that you will be one step closer to freedom if you release it.
- Think of someone who would enjoy or benefit from receiving this item. It could be an individual or an organization. Visualize what you need to do to transfer the item from you to the recipient, and think of how it will positively impact that recipient.
- Finally, give it away - with joy, love, and no strings attached.
Wrapping it Up
When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us - Alexander Graham Bell
Holding on to material possessions that serve no positive purpose is a form of physical and spiritual hoarding. There is always an instant benefit to giving away, and that is clearing the clutter that surrounds your life. But there is an even more important spiritual benefit. When we learn to let go and give freely, without being controlled by selfish motives, what we give will come back in some way at some time as a gift from the universe.
Namaste,
If you would like to be listed as a Weekly Wings
participant, please leave your link information in the comments section
below. Indicate as well, if you wish to be included on my mailing list.
Thank you!
Strangely whilst I was on a short holiday a couple of weeks ago I was attempting to pass on some real goodies to a friend... before leaving I'd lovingly sorted through my books and beads and decided which ones to give to her as we'd be passing near her on our journey to and from Cornwall... before we left she said she'd fit in with our plans... but as it turned out she couldn't make any of the 4 days we suggested! I've been wondering at this failure of mine to let go of something... it still seems significant... maybe I'll find something else to give away for this challenge.
Posted by: Caroline | May 13, 2008 at 07:06 AM
The hubster and I have been letting go of loads of stuff this week! http://www.creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2008/05/the-hubster-and.html
Posted by: leah | May 16, 2008 at 10:00 AM
addios!!
http://reflectingthelightofthemoon.blogspot.com/2008/05/letting-go.html
Posted by: teri | May 17, 2008 at 10:47 PM