baggage

Every once in a while, I find an old image that reminds me of two things:

1. That I used to spend WAY more time with my kids, and I loved it.

2. That, as time goes on, EVERYONE carries more and more baggage from their mistakes, poor decisions, lost gambles, and risks taken that go wrong. As I approach my half-century point, I can understand why some folks cut anchor and run from their problems. It's hard to carry the increasingly heavy load on increasingly weary legs, and you can begin to wonder if you'll ever become the person you thought you would be from under this embarrassing, threatening, heaping accumulation of baggage.

3. That I should never write an intro sentence before I know how much I'm going to write in the following paragraphs.

4. That some of the baggage we carry, if we don't drop everything and run, is light, brightly coloured, has its own wheels, is becoming self-propelled, and brings you SO MUCH JOY.