On one of my first around-the-world tickets, I flew from Melbourne, Australia to Bangkok, Thailand. I was prepared for a two-day stopover in Bangkok on my way to Europe and I was excited to be taking my new red and grey backpack on its maiden voyage. It was a long flight and we arrived around 2 AM into the international airport in Bangkok. After clearing customs and immigration, I stood in the baggage claim awaiting the arrival of my new backpack. The carriage circled round and round, and as the time passed, the number of bags cycling became fewer and fewer util it finally stopped with another backpack that looked like my backpack, but wasn’t.
Here I was, alone in Bangkok for the first time at 2 AM and wondering where my bag was and what to do next. I headed over to the official lost bags office and as I explained my story, the officials caught the woman who had collected my bag rather than hers. It was a simple case of mistaken bag identity (coupled with fatigue, no doubt). It was just in time for me not to have entered a full blown state of panic and unease, of wondering if the stuff in the other woman’s bag would fit me.
This story relates to my thought for the week. Are you picking up and carrying around baggage that isn’t yours?
Do you take on issues, dramas, stories and gossip that are about others and, in doing so, distance yourself from owning your own stuff?
Many times in this blog, I speak about looking after our own needs first so that we can hold space not only for our own growth, but so we can better hold space for others. By doing so, we enter into our own selfless service (seva). But if we haven’t done the work to look deeper into who we are, how we hold our relationships to the earth and other beings then how can we have the energy to carry someone elses baggage?
Ultimately it all comes down to you owning your own stuff and the space you hold in your heart. Maybe it’s time to let go of other peoples baggage.
