The image of carrying luggage—heavy luggage—sticks out most to me as an appropriate metaphor for the transition from 2020 to 2021. We’ve all talked about and heard how 2020 felt wearying and overwhelming. We will most likely look back and see it as a significant year in our stories. How can we remove some of the clothing from the bag to walk lighter into 2021? Let’s take inventory of the overloaded bag or number of bags we struggle with on our new year journey.

Baggage to put down in 2021

  1. Process your grief. We’ll talk more about this next week because grief is a great burden to bear. It may be helpful to find a friend to help you take baby steps to work through your grief, someone to gently and lovingly come alongside you.
  2. Choose courage over fear. View the obstacle as a challenge to complete. If you face loneliness, engage in creative ways to find community, to reach out, and connect with others. Schedule a meet-up to walk with a neighbor, set a day to hike outdoors, or a night for virtual games with friends.
  3. Limit your social media. Make the choice to avoid online arguments and, instead, create positive, inspiring, loving, and caring messages to encourage others. If you find yourself in the comparison trap, set boundaries to limit your time on social media to protect your mental health.

What bags can you put down right now that will help you walk into 2021 with a positive outlook? What negative things can you release? Review what you watch, listen to, and fill your mind with—we don’t need all of it!

These are some of the defining steps we can take to help us live life in the present, to the best of our ability, with great flexibility and grace.