I’ve had this idea for many years now about only possessing one thing at the end of my days here in this life’s journey – an empty backpack. I’m not exactly sure when the idea first came to me – or what prompted it in the first place – but I knew that it was a symbol for me to let go of things as I travel down life’s lanes
In fact, I had totally forgotten about it until my brother reminded me of it not that long ago.
As I’ve lived my life, as relationships with friends and family develop and ebb and flow over time, I feel like many things get placed inside that imaginary backpack that I carry around. It’s filled with all of the things from my life’s journey – memories, thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams, successes and failures – and of course all manner of physical objects – photos, pictures, writings, letters, etc. - all souvenirs of a life lived.
But the truth is you cannot go back on the journey – you can only go forward. This is not an original, earth-shattering thought of mine – many, many others have written and spoken of this. But as I move forward, I realize that the only thing I can really do, for my own peace and sanity, is to unpack all of those things from the backpack – one at a time - and place them in the best possible places I can find – and then keep walking, noticing that the load I was carrying is a bit lighter now.
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