SACK OF POTATOES

This beautiful story was forwarded to me by a friend which I would like to share:

“HOW BIG IS YOUR SACK OF EMOTIONAL PAIN? 

“A teacher once asked her students to each bring to school a sack of potatoes.  For every painful experience they could recall, and for every person they could not forgive in their life, each student had to choose a potato and then carve into it the name of the incident and the date of the occurrence

For an entire month the students were required to carry around their personalized sack of potatoes at all times.   It lay beside their bed at night, sat with them at lunch and on the bus, and while they were with friends

The hassle of lugging around this load soon made it profoundly clear what a weight they were carrying around emotionally.  The people whose names were inscribed on the potatoes were not in the least affected by the heavy burden

It seemed a rather high price to pay to hold onto people, situations and emotions that were of no positive value in their lives.  The students began to see forgiveness and letting go as a gift to themselves, rather than a gift to others

We all carry emotional baggage to varying degrees--painful childhood memories, grief over the loss of a loved one, the devastation of a marriage or relationship break up, the trauma of physical or sexual violation.  Who hasn't suffered rejection, betrayal, hardship, failure, shame, longing, guilt, loss of self-esteem, or sorrow to some degree? 

It's easier to believe there is a way around experiencing sorrow, that we can avoid pain and lose nothing of the fullness and joy of living.  What I have come to realize is that it is not pain that hurts us most.  It is resistance to pain that wears us out.  We fear it, fight it, run from it, ignore it or try to bury it

It takes a lot more energy to store pain than it does to confront it.  The tension and effort of bracing shut the doors of our emotional storage vault eventually takes its toll in physical terms.”  

Live in Light!

EL