Cutting Away the Excess Baggage



It can be painful to cut away those things from our past, but very necessary.
I was going thru airport security last week and I got all the way thru security and began my redressing process. When I went to put my belt back on, I pulled on the buckle to latch it and….snap…I broke my buckle as it detached from the leather part of the belt.
So now, I have no belt, & I’m running thru the airport trying to keep my pants from falling off especially since I had recently focused my recovery on my eating and exercise habits & lost some weight.
Here are some lessons I learned from this situation as it relates to my recovery:

1.       Sometimes, like a belt, I can look like I have a strong support network, but in reality the people around me are just decoys to make me look like I have it “all together”. Looking strong doesn’t mean I am.
2.       It wasn’t until I started dealing with the junk in my life and started losing some of the unwanted baggage, that I realized how miserable I was before. Just because it’s familiar doesn’t make it good.
3.       It is in the middle of my recovery journey that having support is even more important.
4.       Change can feel awkward and develop unfamiliar situations because we have gotten so used to our life as we know it, but stay the course and you will be glad you did.
5.       Sometimes the old stuff will detach from our life. At first it can feel like a very bad thing, leaving me feeling helpless and uncomfortable but, God is molding me into following His purpose for my life.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Rodney Holmstrom

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