(Pardon me if this was put together quickly… I’ve got stuff to move today.)
MOVE DAY
Well, kind of. We just closed on the sale of our old 10-year-old home and the purchase of our new 46-year-old home earlier this week. Today we begin the process of transitioning. I can only wish it was as easy as a “move DAY”.
I’m sitting down in the basement in my favorite room, the place where so many of my blog posts have developed, and I’m looking around at the chaos that comes with moving… when did we accumulate so many Christmas decorations?
Anyways, as I scan the room, I notice something I’ve seen so many times in the past, but this morning it was followed by a different thought, likely due to the fact we’re in the middle of this move. I saw dad’s old hiking stick he used when we were out on trails. After he died in 2011, I grabbed it from his apartment as we cleaned it out. In so many ways, that hiking stick represented many memories of he and I walking along the South Platte River south of Denver as he scanned the tall cottonwood trees for Great Horned Owls. He had developed an eye for finding those beautiful creatures and that skill made an impression on 40-something Me.
The stick occupied a place in the corner of my favorite room for as long as we’ve lived in this house, and it will have a place of honor in my new house as well. Damn! I get teary-eyed just thinking of Dad…
STUFF
Here’s the thought that came to me this morning. We spend our lives accumulating “stuff”. We want; we pursue; we buy; we collect… Then, here I am in my early 60’s beginning the process of moving, of downsizing, and I wonder “why do we have all this stuff?” That thought is quickly followed by the question: “what stuff do I actually need, and what stuff can we get rid of?”
I’ve learned over the years that the only “stuff” that really matters are experiences and memories. “Stuff” breaks; it fades; it rusts; it becomes outdated; it becomes covered with dust; it takes up room in storage because we fail to part ways with it… and eventually that stuff kind of becomes a burden.
Here’s where the point has something to do with climbing mountains.
TRAVELING LIGHT
When I prepare for a hike, I only bring what is essential. I can only carry so much in that pack, and if I bring too many unnecessary things, I may not get to the destination I set out for. The weight of my pack will take its toll on my back, my knees, my feet… and most important, my will. The weight will likely undermine the convictions I possessed once fatigue sets in.
I believe it’s important to take this metaphor to other summits we desire to climb. Stuff can take many forms… it can be material in nature, or it can be the weighty things we carry in our soul. It can be unforgiveness, it can be the wounds from trauma we’ve buried deep within that pack we carry… kind of out-of-sight; out-of-mind… and yet, regardless of whether we’re aware we carry those things or not, we still feel the weight every step of our journey.
I could go on and on here in an effort to challenge you to think about the point I’m trying to make here… or, you could pause and consider yourself what you’re carrying in your pack. If what’s in your pack will be helpful somewhere along the trail to your Summit then great! If you find things in your pack that are a hindrance to your goals of getting to the Summit… well, I guess you can avoid them if you want… but I encourage you to deal with and get rid of those hindrances. The days we have are too precious to be weighed down with things we don’t need for this journey.
Okay, I’ve got “stuff” to move!