Baggage and Blessings

    As I continue to clean out my house and bring new items (baggage/clutter) in, I started thinking about how this is similar to the emotional baggage that we all carry with us.  Some of it we chose for ourselves, some of it given to us without asking, some of it inherited, some of it easy to toss, some of it hard to let go, some of it easy to carry, some of it so heavy that we have to have assistance from our friends and neighbors and even a higher power to carry it, some of it comes in the form of blessings, some of it comes in the form of junk we think we want but later change our minds and don't want it anymore. 
    And then I started thinking about how our baggage can control us at times and other times we just put that baggage in its place and leave it there out of sight out of mind.  It doesn't take long into a conversation with someone to pick up on their baggage.  I wouldn't trade my baggage for that of someone else. People handle things so much heavier than what I have to bear.  My life has been cluttered with emotional baggage and a lot of it I brought on myself, a lot of it I did not.  So is our baggage who we are?  Can we declutter and let go? Can we stop bringing it in? What would we lose if we had a no baggage policy?
    Some baggage we have to keep.  I have a melanoma scar on my left leg, above the knee.  It's not going anywhere.  I wish I didn't have it but I embrace the life lessons I learned from having a cancer scare at age 35.  There is a tombstone in the cemetery of my church, it bears the name of my firstborn.  I wish it wasn't there but I know it has made me a better parent.  There are other less visible scars but I don't think they've made me a bad person, but a better person.  So from this perspective, the baggage is necessary and it's how I deal with it that matters.
    Now let me move on the the happy baggage of my family, my friends, my home, my job.  I usually don't mind this baggage.  It's the baggage that brings me joy, it's the baggage I like to share.  It's the baggage that brings blessings and pain.  It's the baggage that makes life what it is.  You got baggage? Have you taken time to go through it lately?  Have you tossed it, packed it up, or put it in a safe place? Did it make you who you are?