The Burdens That We Carry

Just some musing after a conversation I had with a friend.

Several years ago, at one of the last Magic Carpet Cons in Chatanooga, I was having a conversation with Dr. Jane Robinson. It was Sunday morning, and I had already checked out of my hotel room and packed everything into the car with the exception of my laptop computer, which I didn’t trust to leave unattended for several hours, so I had it in a carry case slung over my shoulder.

As is usual on a Sunday at a con, I was slightly sleep deprived and a little stiff. At one point, I flexed my back to try and work out a particular knot of soreness between my shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” Dr. Jane asked. “Oh, just a little stiff. And this thing is heavy,” I replied, nodding toward the laptop case.

She nodded sensibly. “Then put it down.”

This had not actually occured to me. I set the case down in front of me, where I could keep an eye on it. “There,” she smiled broadly. “Now don’t you feel better?”

All of us, every day, have burdens that we are carrying. And there are times that we feel weary from them, or overwhelmed by them. Sometimes we wish we could just rest.

Put them down.

You can’t just abandon them, no. But put them down. Set them on the ground. Sit on top of them. Catch your breath, feel the sun on your face and the wind in your hair. Stretch, relax, and breathe.

They will be waiting for you when it is time to pick them up again and continue down the road. And your steps will be lighter from the respite.