How are you travelling?

This week’s post is inspired by a phrase I got from my brother-in-law. When you hear the question, ‘How are you travelling?’, your response will depend on who you are or where you live.

To an Aussie, the phrase is a slang for ‘How are you doing?’. If I had asked my late father, his response would have been ‘I am travelling light’. He instilled this discipline of travelling light in us.

His reasoning was that if your transportation broke down, are you going to be stuck or will you be able to grab your bag and find a way out? As I travel, I’m fascinated by people and their luggage and I’m reminded of my father.

On recent trips to Israel and New York, I  decided to travel light. It was tough.

A lot of planning went into my packing and I had to deny myself the pleasure of taking everything I wanted.

Once I accepted my limited range of shoes and other stuff, I was delighted that the rest of my journey was easy and pleasurable.

Today I’m asking the question in relation to a much more important journey – Life.

How are you travelling through life? Are you carrying a lot of baggage or are you travelling light?

I have met people who are weighed down and it shows in their attitudes, relationships, choices and language.

Not all ‘Loads’ can be avoided in the same way that I can’t travel with zero luggage.

There are some loads that we can let go off – like those extra pairs of shoes and the things we packed because we are indecisive.

So what are those unnecessary weights that we could be travelling with?

One that jumps out for me is un-forgiveness. Unless we live in a bubble, offence is a part of life and we have a choice to make when it happens.

This week, I had to write a victim impact statement following a recent break-in. I finished my statement with the phrase, ‘I forgive them’.

A part of me wondered if I was giving them a free pass, if it would get them a lighter sentence or if I was saying that what they did was not a big deal.

In truth it was none of the above. I knew forgiving them was the right thing to do.

The alternative would be to add un-forgiveness to my luggage for the journey.

Forgiving them was as much for my benefit as it was for setting them free without condemnation from me.

The police and the judge will do their jobs, so I chose not to take on the burden of personally holding them to account.

Offence is like a snow ball that gets bigger as it rolls in more snow. It starts small, turns into un-forgiveness, leads to bitterness. It could end up affecting physical and mental health as well as relationships.

I wish I could say I always find it easy to forgive but it wouldn’t be the whole truth. It is hard because for the most part, the choice to forgive makes it seem like you’re weak. You feel cheated and it humbles you.

You have to be willing to get down from your ‘I am right, they are wrong’ high horse and that is hard.

Two thoughts that help me to forgive are:

I am not perfect either

I make mistakes and offend people. When this happens, I want forgiveness too. So how can I withhold from others what I seek and expect?

I choose love

To forgive, we must learn to love. Over the years, I have proven this time and time again. We forgive to the measure that we love.

Have you seen two people in the early stages of love? It seems like they can do ‘No wrong’ and if they do, they are quick to apologise and quick to forgive.

Sometimes they lose this as the relationship goes on. In reality they did not lose the ability to forgive, they just forget to love as they once did.

Love and forgiveness are choices we can make daily. They are the best gifts on offer, costly but worth every price. Sometimes it takes time but keep at it.

Love and forgive yourself. Love and forgive others. Choose to ‘Travel light’.

Thanks for reading my post. Please share with others and leave a comment. See you next week.