Bag lady you gone hurt your back

Dragging all them bags like that

I guess nobody ever told you

All you must hold on to

Is you, is you, is you

 

Bag lady you gone miss your bus

You can’t hurry up

Cause you got too much stuff

 

Let’s be honest – we all carry fears, hurts, disappoints, breakups, and mistakes around. Sometimes we don’t even realize it, but we’re carrying around years and years of unnecessary baggage.

 

When I was in college I always carried around more bags than I needed. I would have my backpack full of notebooks and books for the classes I had for that day. Then I would carry another bag (usually a sling bag)  full of notebooks and books for other classes, or really anything I thought I needed. Then of course I would have my purse, which as most ladies know, is a endless black hole in itself. I remember a couple of my friends always called me “bag lady” then I’d break out in the song by Erykah Badu in my mind. I always laughed and brushed it off. But today I thought differently about those bags that I use to carry. Today I thought about the bags that we all carry around that limit us in our life.

 

Listen. No matter how broad your shoulders are, no matter how strong you think you are, one day those burdens you carry around will get in the way of where you want to go. The fears and insecurities you carry around will weigh you down so much that you will be paralyzed when it’s time for you to move – to take that job, to accept that new challenge, to grow into a new relationship. When you hold in all your fears, you’re restraining yourself from being able to do move into into where you need to be.

 

Bag lady you gone miss your bus

You can’t hurry up

Cause you got too much stuff

One day all them bags gone get in your way

 

I don’t want you to miss your opportunity to move forward with your goals and dreams. Here are 3 ways you can start releasing yourself from your fears and start living more free.

 

1. LIST out what your fear is (just focus on one): Ask yourself, “In this moment, what i fear the most is ______ (ie. rejection, failing, disappointment). I have no doubt you have heard it before, you cannot fix what you don’t confront. This is not just a cliche saying, it is the truth. You have to be able to face what it is you fear in order to understand how to work through it. It’s not easy, it feels very uncomfortable, but when you see it on paper, the fears….

 

1. CHOOSE to work through this fear: You really do have to say outloud to yourself. I choose to release the fear of NAME. get help from a trusted friend, family member, church member, etc.

 

1. REPLACE your fear with truth  – The truth of the matter is – you are here for a reason. Your goals and dreams matter. You can do anything that you believe you can. Do not start the day with your past fears. Start the day with the courage to overcome. If you have to bombard yourself with positivity, encouragement, inspirational messages, then do it! You won’t just wake up one day and have no fears or insecurities. You have to replace them with truth messages and keep reiterating them for your life.

 

So pack light

Pack light

Pack light

Ooh ooh

 

I really love this quote: “Facing your fears robs them of their power” -Mark Burnett

 

The key is to acknowledge the fear. When you acknowledge it (or them), it becomes easier to deal with. Our anticipation of the fear is far more stressful. Face your fear today. Write them down, speak them out loud, and take power away from them.  

 

What fear are you taking power from today?