Last week's post was WAY TOO LONG - sorry! What I was trying to say was important and I just couldn't figure out a way to use less words to get the important points across. For those of you that worked your way through the entire post- THANK YOU! For those of you that gave up before you got to the end - THANKS FOR TRYING! For those of you that looked at how long it was and said forget it - YOU MISSED SOME REALLY GOOD STUFF! It was interesting for me to read your 3 word descriptions of me/my brand. I was pleasantly surprised to see that who you think I am is who I am trying to be. YAY FOR ME - the effort is paying off. I also know that you were being kind, and that each of you could have come up with at least 1 descriptor that was not so wonderful. Thanks for choosing to look at me on my best days when you chose your words. I can also see how each of your descriptors can be taken to the extreme or used in situations that are not a good fit; isn't that the way life is?
This week's post will be briefer! It comes from a dream I had on Sunday night. In my dream I was putting things into my car to take a trip. I was doing a fine job of putting things in the car, when a gentleman (a client) showed up with a huge duffle bag and threw it on top of my neatly packed trunk and said "you need to have this with you". I was taken aback! My face must have reflected my concern, and he told me that I simply must have the things in this bag with me on my trip or I wouldn't enjoy myself. So be it! I left on my trip and while the trip was good, I was continually annoyed by this duffle bag, which was taking up space. I never took the bag out to use anything that was in it. I also would try to put it in the car first because it was heavy and I didn't want it to be on top of the other items. No matter what I did, the heavy, duffle bag ended up on top. I was irritated by the bag the entire trip. There were even a couple of times that I wanted to buy something to bring home and it wouldn't fit in the car because the duffle bag was taking up precious space. You are thinking "why didn't you just throw the bag out? leave it by the side of the road?" I was thinking it, too - AND I COULD NOT DO IT!
FAST FORWARD - I didn't think much about my dream until Monday. On Monday I looked at my very long to-do list and thought "why am I doing all of these things?" That was when my dream crept back into my conscious state and began to have meaning. My life was my trip, and my list were the things I was taking with me. The things on my list that I couldn't believe I had said yes to were the items in the duffle bag. It was my life - my trip - why was I letting someone else pack my bags for me and decide what I needed to have on my trip?
I could continue with the metaphor, but I will leave that up to you as you reflect on what you have in your car for your trip. Are you packing your own bags or are you letting well intended people do some of your packing for you? I hope that you take some time this week to consider who is packing your bags.
Suitcase
