You’re Crowding My Space!

Just let it go! Get over it already. Have you heard these words before? Have you said it to someone else? Erykah Badu even made a song about it— “Bag Lady.” In this song she says, “bag lady you gone hurt your back, dragging all them bags like that.” What did she mean…well sometimes we carry around things from our past and after a while they start to hold us down. Similar to real baggage, some are bigger than others. An argument with your spouse that you’re mad about the next may be the size of a clutch purse. However, unresolved trauma may be like carrying around a storage container (e.g. PODS). As time goes on and we don’t resolve our issues, we carry more and more bags varying in size. Often, the stress from carrying around emotional baggage leads to physical symptoms, such as headaches, backaches, stomach pains, decreased/increased sleep or appetite, and/or poor concentration. We could list many more symptoms, but we only have so much space J. Sometimes we want to hold onto our baggage because it makes us feel safe or comfortable. It is familiar to us. Unfortunately, sometimes our baggage starts to define us and the idea of changing becomes more difficult than staying the same. So how do you release the baggage? Glad you asked, check out our next blog that focuses on staying grounded, as well as stopping and challenging negative thinking patterns.