The Heavy Load

We are influenced by events in our lives, and we can carry them around like a heavy backpack, ready to open up and whip out the events inside to study....again and again. "Maybe I could have done something different; It makes me soooo angry, etc;....If only I had..."  -you know the mantras, they are endless and easy to repeat on a loop.  We have the conscious choice to carry around the weight of life events on our back ( and it is a damn heavy load, been there, done that! For a lot of years I carried around anger at what some people close to  me were choosing to do themselves through substance, it ate away at my heart, eventually became part of me,  and gave me an ulcer among other things! ) or we can choose to look at these scenes, see them as a lesson and learn, pass the test, and move on to the next. If we allow ourselves to get stuck and carry around the feelings of anger, frustration, disillusion,____( fill in the emotional word blank that resonates with you- the choices are endless ) that pack on our back becomes part of us, and we own it!  We can, however be conscious and put it down; a story I have discussed with my young yogis  relates just that and follows......there were two monks traveling that came upon a high born lady and her attendants in a village. It was early spring, and the road was wet and covered in mud. She bullied them and railed about getting across the road without soiling her garments. Her attendees hands were already full with her packages and could not assist her. The novice of the two monks saw the scene and kept walking. The senior monk stopped, picked the lady up on his back, carried  her across the muck, and put her down on  the opposite side of the road. They continued on and the young monk became increasingly brooding and finally asked his elder why he carried the women when all she did was berate her devotees and did not even thank him. The elder responds with this..." I put the woman down miles back; why are you still carrying her?  We can very much be like the monks and either carry our issues around like a pack on our back and let them fester within  or put down the emotional baggage by the side of the road and continue our journey through the village called life. I don't know about you, but the road ahead looks pretty inviting.