Lost luggage

Nothing is worse than arriving after a long flight and going to the baggage arrival carousel and waiting for your luggage to circulate to you, when after the conveyor belt has stopped, you realize your luggage has been lost. A whole set of negative emotions rise up and like a Tsunami overwhelm you. Anger is the final response that ends up being wielded as a mighty sword against anyone and everyone that the mind conjures up, eg airlines, ground staff, baggage handlers etc. Yet why are we so upset. Is it because we feel cheated, do we express emotions at airline incompetence, or are do we simply feel that our possessions have been stolen?

I believe that we have put so much value on the contents of the baggage that we hold on to it so tight that when lost we feel that part of ourselves is lost too. Nobody wants to ever intentionally lose their bags or possessions but the same reaction occurs when airport security happens to open a locked suitcase and reseal it up with a sticker announcing that they have touched your possessions. We feel at some level violated. No one is going to be happy that their suitcase has been jimmied open by some total stranger and thanks to that encounter the flight was a safer one, since most passengers will not violate civil law and jeopardize or inconvenience their existing travel  plans. So we hold onto the contents so tightly that it hurts to let go. Now imagine the same with past negative experiences, perhaps a bad martial issue, a terrible childhood encounter, or an angry meeting, or a betrayal. You hold on to these emotional issues so tightly that you in fact own them. You lock them away into a bag within your soul and you carry this around with you all day and night long. No matter how heavy the luggage you bear the burden even if it exceeds the weight limit. Now unexpectedly parting with it may make you feel uncomfortable, kind of like losing the physical baggage at the airport.

Letting go of the contents of your mind and heart willingly unloads your soul’s baggage. Facing your fears, confronting those past experiences with courage, strength and resolve ensures that the past history of the cumulative encounters stay in the past and do not hinder your future. Forgive and forget brings peace and calmness to the soul and lightens the heart. No one can then violate the empty baggage at your own personal security check. Look into your soul and see what inside you is on the prohibited  travel baggage list. So the next time you travel, travel light. No heavy backpack of unhappy memories. Sometimes the carousel will bring back luggage on its circuitous route, just as life does the same with various unresolved issues from past negative days, bringing it back to your doorstep when you least expect it. Simply look at the tag on the baggage, identify the experience, acknowledge it for what it was and let it go and say ” Thank you but this isn’t my bag.” It is very easy to blame someone for your inconvenience, yet it is you who are to blame for lost luggage. Why did you pack so much and exceed the weight limit?

Letting go of the past ills makes way for the futures’ abundance, happiness and goodness to take hold. When the contents are disowned, the bag gets lighter and smaller. Soon you do not even need to carry a bag on the trip of life. This takes time and effort to truly let go and be free, yet it can be done. Freedom to travel has always been my passion and a goal to pursue. Freedom to travel light is a dream that most of us have yet to experience.So the next time you find yourself at the baggage claim counter, and the staff person asks “Lost Luggage?”  Your reply in a calm, and relaxed tone could be ” Probably did not need all that stuff anyway.”