Lighten Up

On the path of life, most of us are hauling way too much weight. Too many To Do’s, too much stuff, too many entanglements, “shoulds,” worries, guilts, and regrets. All the extra physical and mental stuff you lug around complicates your life, weighs you down, and keeps you stuck. There’s enough weightiness in life as it is without adding more.

Dropping loads enables lightening up, so start to lay your burdens down, and rarely pick up new ones.

Tips:

1. Start small by clearing out one closet of things you no longer want or need. Notice the sense of lightness in dropping things you don’t need.
2. Look at your obligations.  Decide what you could stop doing, and let it go, whether others pick it up or not.
3. Consider your relationships. Which ones feel weighty and encumbered?  Could you step back, stop engaging in gossip and negativity, or stop performing roles such as problem-solving, quasi-therapist, dating advisor?
4. Take a look at your mind. What weighs it down? Guilt, anxiety, perfectionistic standards, passivity, doubt, taking yourself too seriously? For a brief period of time – half an hour, half a day – totally drop it. Ride that great wave of relief and lightness and continue dropping those lead weights in your mind.

Overall: If in doubt, throw it out. Play with feeling lighter in your body. As if you are lifted up by invisible helium balloons. Lighter in your step. Your head lighter on your shoulders. Lighter in your heart.