The Magic Of Changing Your Baggage

Sometimes people who would never dream of wearing dirty underwear carry around outworn or even toxic baggage for years. If you only live from reaction to reaction you are bound to have a big load of attitudes and behaviors that no longer work for you. Some people say that to be sophisticated is to know about wines, have traveled and that it may even be an artificial way of being. But the root of sophistication is Sophia or wisdom. It is good to go beyond the natural, after all learning manners and how to eat, tie your shoes and so on is beyond the natural. Addictions are in the realm of the reactive. If you are aiming for a life in which you are in charge, not controlled by your habits or your baggage you must have a degree of sophistication. You must become aware of your behaviors and habits of mind. Once aware you can change. You can practice linking good feelings or calm feelings to good actions. You can dump the self talk that makes you feel morose or angry. Just because you have always done something is no reason to continue to do it. I knew a woman with extremely long hair. She always wore it up in a way that gave her discomfort from the weight of it. When asked why she didn't cut it or let it hang (which would have been inconvenient as well) she said, "But it's my hair" as if hair was so holy you had to let it make you suffer. So she did suffer. The attitude was set in stone and she couldn't examine it to see if it served her or not.
One way to discover when you have outmoded baggage is to examine your reactions when you are irritated with someone. Perhaps that person is as awful as you think they are. Then you should avoid them. But suppose the irritation comes from your reaction of being a control freak or judgmental. Negative emotions are a signal that something needs to be changed. Reach out to the magic that surrounds you for help in deciding whether that change needs to be in the outer world or in you. Perhaps it's time to get rid of your dirty baggage. May the spark be with you.