Article ~
Extra Baggage
by Barb
Langlois
How much extra baggage are you caring around (and I'm not talking excess weight)? Have you ever bounced back to a past event, an event that happened, maybe many years ago? Have you then ever found yourself having the same emotional response you had to that past event, now, so many years later? Ever ask yourself why you seem stuck in the past, especially when you think about that particular event? I don't know about you but I sure do.
When I was 18 years old, one week after our high school graduation, the guy (let's call him Paul) who I went to grad and went out with, was hit in the head with a ball, while playing fastpitch. Initially, he seemed ok and even played out the inning, but as he got to the dugout, he started to get dizzy. A group of friends decided to walk him to the hospital which was just a block away.
That was the last time anyone saw Paul, walk or talk. He was rushed to a tertiary hospital, underwent emergency brain surgery and... well, he spent the next 27 years lying in a hospital bed fully paralyzed, unable to walk, move or talk. He could breathe, blink and make a verbal noise "ahhh" -- that's it! At first, my friends and I went to see Paul regularly. Then as the weeks turned into months and the months into years, we all moved on with our lives. Paul's condition remained unchanged. What had his purpose become in life?
As the years passed, it got harder and harder for me to go visit Paul. I struggled with what to say. In addition to the difficulty of carrying on a one-sided conversation, I didn't want to complain about problems I was having nor the success I was experiencing -- both seemed rather inappropriate. I also really struggled with his emotional response -- he cried whenever I, or any of my friends, would visit. What was he thinking?
To ease my pain, I stopped going. Have you ever stopped doing something because emotionally, it became too uncomfortable for you?
Two nights ago I received a message Paul had died.
My first response = nothing. After all, I hadn't seen Paul in over 20 years.
The next day, however, I was edgy, cranky and feeling unsettled. Have you ever felt that way and not known why? I went for a walk. Without warning the memories came flooding back. I started to cry. I cried for the loss of Paul, I cried for the relief he was no longer trapped in his physical body and I cried to release some deep emotion that lay within me. It was that same emotion I experienced whenever I thought or spoke about Paul throughout those 27 years. You see, Paul was a gifted athlete, and an extremely handsome, smart and very caring young man.
That night as I was journaling, I began to realize the full impact of Paul's death on me. I realized I had been crying about the guilt I had carried around for 27 years. Guilt about being able to live my life how I chose to, while Paul lay motionless in a hospital bed, totally dependent on others, for everything. It was huge excess baggage for me and impacted my life in ways that I can't even begin to fathom.
I began to clear* the emotion. Once I had cleared the emotion (and it took less than 10 minutes), I felt huge relief! Unrecognized emotion continues to impact your life (and my life) in negative ways until we choose to identify it and then clear it.
Accessing my guilt and having the opportunity to release it, was the gift Paul gave me in his death. I am very thankful.
So I need to ask you now, what excess baggage are you carrying around? How much negative emotion do you have that needs to be cleared? If you don't know, pay attention to what "hooks" you and causes you to react. I guarantee your unwanted emotion will continue to show up in your life, in not very good ways, until you can acknowledge it.
I extend my gift from Paul to you -- take the time to feel your unwanted emotion and release it.
Step Out of the Ordinary!
Barb Langlois RN BSN MSN
Speaker and Seminar Leader
(1) 604.819.1888
www.BarbLanglois.com
e-Mail me at: barb@barblanglois.com
P.S.
* "Clearing" is an easy-to-learn technique I teach in my Ultimate Possibilities 2 workshop that clears unwanted emotion from your body and restores your body back to balance.
P.S.S.
Debbie Ford's 1998 book The Dark Side of the Light Chasers is an excellent resource for gaining awareness to your conscious and unconscious emotions and feelings.
~ MOST RECENT ARTICLE ~
8/31/10 ~ "The Most Powerful Tool to Create Connection"
~ ARCHIVES ~
7/29/10 ~ "A Lesson from the Grind"
6/22/10 ~ "Are You a 'What Iffer?'"
5/26/10 ~ "It's Yours, Not Mine"
4/28/10 ~ "Homeless Perspective"
3/2/10 ~ "Speaking of the Olympics and Wins..."
2/2/10 ~ "Who You Gonna Be?"
1/12/10 ~ "Sometimes Things Don't Go As Planned"
12/17/09 ~ "Oh Goody, Opportunities to be Patient"
12/3/09 ~ "Little Voice Battles"
11/17/09 ~ "Prescription for Perfection"
10/22/09 ~ "Standing Ovation"
9/29/09 ~ "Expert Nursing Skill Allows Meeting to Continue"
9/01/09 ~ "Extra Baggage"
8/11/09 ~ "What Will People Think?"
7/07/09 ~ "I'm Done with Drinking Poison"
6/09/09 ~ "What's Your Excuse?"
5/20/09 ~ "$100 Worth of Learning"
4/28/09 ~ "Life Gives Us What We Think About"
4/07/09 ~ "Three Points to Keeping Them (and Yourself) Happy"
3/11/09 ~ "TIISG"
2/24/09 ~ "Are You Really Paying Attention?"
2/03/09 Article ~ "An Ounce of Appreciation... OOPS! I mean..."
1/13/09 Article ~ "Attention All Non-Facebook Users"
12/18/08 Article ~ "Is It Too Good To Be True?"
12/02/08 Article ~ "If Not You, Then Who?"
11/13/08 Article ~ "1 + 1 = GROW!"
|
