We are shaped by the relationships with friends and lovers of our past.  There’s no doubt about that.  I am a better person because of almost every relationship I’ve been in.  But with every broken heart and lost commitment comes baggage.  Baggage makes us react inappropriately.  Baggage makes us reach for blame.  Baggage makes us act like victims instead of making things happen for us.  Most days, I recognize my baggage and manage my way through it, logically.  But on those spectacular days, when my baggage partners with my somewhat shaky self-esteem, I seem to fall apart.  I’m no longer logical. I’m an emotional wreck.  I can’t talk about it, OR EVEN WRITE ABOUT IT, because my logical mind can’t resolve the emotional issues.  (Of note, it’s taken me three days to write this post so far.) 

But I have spent the last three days thinking about it.  And baggage, while a heavy troublesome load some days, also allows us to carry the courage to resolve little things before they become the big things that hurt in the past.  We have places to house the lessons we’ve learned.  Baggage holds dear the secrets that we’ve kept to ourselves but somehow when we let those secrets out of the bag, we grow.  We’re stronger in our own right.  We’re stronger in our relationships. In the end, our load is lighter, because someone is eventually willing to help us carry our baggage.

With a fuller heart and a lesser burden,

Angi