W is for Weight

 Atlas by Karim Design 

What is it that weighs you down? Is it worries about work or money or relationships? Is it literally poundage on your frame? Is it philosophical in nature?

Thinking often about this subject, I have come to realize that I am more weighed down than I wanted to look at. I have harbored toxic emotions which seethed beneath the surface poisoning my heart and mind. I have become someone I did not see myself as becoming.

Funny how we can have such distorted views about ourselves!

I have taken steps back from the things which I was aware were weighing me down. I have gained valuable perspective and am actively addressing the issues at hand. But it is not enough.

Like the onion, we are multi-layered and may even bring forth tears when peeling back those layers!

Let's face it, we all want to alleviate the stressors in our lives. Feeling stressed out and full anxiety is not a pleasant experience, but feeling the need to NOT feel them is like adding another layer of stress.

Pushing against the water of emotions is futile. Trust me, I speak from experience.

Earlier this week, I was blessed to see and face one of my most intense stressors of my life. I was asked not how I felt about them, but why I thought they were the way they were. In pondering this strange question, I thought of the reasons.

After a little while, I realized something huge:
 If I spend my energy and time and thoughts and emotions fixated on the painful holding on of these stressors in my life, 
 I become the pain. 

I may wear a different mask, but I become it nonetheless.

Whether I was taught to or expected to or volunteered to take the weight of the world upon my shoulders, I can always choose to change that dynamic.

 I choose to shed that layer of the onion NOW. 

I often remind myself:

Do not invest in fears related to the past.

Thinking about where we have come from and what decisions we made which did not serve our highest power are natural. Dwelling on them and berating yourself for them is counter-productive. As it is important to honor your light and shadow sides, you must remain in balance between the two, for no-one is all light, and no-one is all shadow.

Patiently reminding yourself of the weighty issues you wish to release and then lovingly letting them go, thanking them for the layer of protection they gave you, and explaining that you no longer need them, can be helpful.

This goes for excess mental, emotional AND physical weight.

We could all spend lifetimes going over the root cases of pain, so we may avoid the pain in the future, but I think that is too much retroaction and keeps you chained to the past. By releasing the need for holding onto the pain, you create more space to feel good, or at least neutral. And more often than not, if you still need to understand the painful foundations, you will do so in due time, naturally. Revisiting stressors with a non-attached heart does not sting nearly as much... if you wish to at all!

Some helpful affirmations to help release that which weighs us down.

I say them in the shower, in the car, while on a walk, or most-likely, in my head and heart.

I release the need to

(_fill in something you are addicted to- it can be a food, a drug, a person, a habit, a belief, a thought, etc._)

and I lovingly let it go, making way for better things to come into my life.

Today is a new day.

And one of the simplest, but a favorite of mine:

I am Safe and Loved.

P.S. I am not suggesting that you carry on in a bad relationship, in a job you hate, in anger and frustration, eating poorly, etc. instead of adding or replacing that stuff with healthier habits. 
But clearing space in your spirit and soul makes the healthy choices easier to make!