When things feel heavy,
We wake each day with the sun with a feeling of clarity and refreshment until quickly our thoughts begin to flood in and weigh us down like a backpack filled with heavy stones.
The promise of a new day is quickly replaced with yesterday's thoughts of worry.
It feels heavy.
Your legs feel weighted down,
Stuck in the mud with frustration,
With uncertainty,
And with the unknown.
You are not alone.
We walk with a heavy backpack clinging tight to things that we want to control,
But that are not within our control every single day.
Worry sometimes feels like its best place to say is right in front of our mind,
When in reality the real freedom comes from letting it go.
These heavy stones will fill our backpacks with each day,
Labeling them with what ifs,
I can'ts,
It will never,
I can't control,
And I'm afraid.
These are stones we choose to drop into our own backpack each and every morning we wake up.
But today you have a different choice.
Instead of picking them up and placing them in your backpack,
Put them back.
They don't serve you.
One by one,
Acknowledge your stones of worry and drop them from your pack.
Set them down,
Lighten your load,
And begin to look for a new way.
Look for the beauty,
For the opportunity today,
For the gifts that are coming your way.
Could it be that the very things happening in your life right now are bringing you gifts you never knew you needed?
And in fact,
If you choose to drop those stones,
Each day would feel light and full of promise.
It's time to set your backpack down.
Feel the weight lifted.
Feel the freedom.
Feel how light it is when you become aware of the thoughts that you choose each day that take you away from the present moment and either move you too far into the future or too far in the past.
Trust in the process.
Feeling your back nice and tall,
Shoulders relaxed,
Pulled away from your ears,
Closing your eyes if you haven't already.
Imagine a string attached at the tailbone,
Weaving through each tiny vertebrae through the crown of your head,
Gently lifting your heart while relaxing your body.
Taking three breaths,
Deep breaths,
Giant inhale through the nose,
Welcoming opportunity and lightness and exhaling through the nose,
Letting go of worry and uncertainty.
And again in through the nose,
Actively choosing to see the potential and exhaling out.
One last breath,
Deep inhale,
Filling your lungs,
Wide,
Even a little bit more,
Fresh air in.
Release in more and more,
The exhale filling lighter,
Feeling that little tiny bit of peace start to creep in,
Feeling presence creep in.
Starting with your head,
Relaxing your forehead and your nose where any tension was,
Let it go away.
Moving to your neck,
Letting it sink towards the ground,
Shoulders relaxed and light.
Moving to your upper and lower back,
Relaxing them,
Let them be loose.
Moving into your quads and hamstrings,
You may not even have noticed they held tension here,
Let them relax.
To your calves,
To your feet and toes,
Let everything feel light.
These little places represent stress or worry and fear.
They don't serve you,
So today choose to let them go.
Let each morning when you wake up be an opportunity to choose a backpack,
Not filled with heavy stones but one that is light and free and filled with peace and opportunity to learn to trust the process.
.
You
