The things we carry

I’ve been thinking a lot about the things we carry this week.  Sometimes we pick up things that don’t belong to us and for a while at least, we need to hold that weight for someone else.  Love sometimes requires of us this sacrifice and I’ve come to believe it’s what makes us so very human.  Those things we carry help our loved ones breathe and feel safe and seen.  And sometimes they make us feel needed too. 

But when does that weight become a burden and when is it time to put it down?  And sometimes it isn’t even that simple.  We might release something and then suddenly find we’re carrying it all over again.  The weight that had once been lifted returns and maybe this time it doesn’t feel so loving or necessary to hold it.  Or maybe we pick it back up again because it is necessary.  We humans are a complicated bunch holding so many things.

When those things we carry lead us to a gridlock, it’s time to take a moment to rest and dig deep.  Is what we’re holding even helpful for the other person or our family?  Is it a lie we’ve been taught to believe or maybe our family has been taught to believe?  Can my loved ones move forward if I set this thing down?  There are seasons for holding on, seasons for releasing, and seasons for starting all over again, and perhaps the most important question of all is asking which of these seasons you find yourself in now. 

Sending love and peace to each of you and all things you carry.

Cassie