We all carry emotional baggage; things that have happened in the past that have etched their impact on our minds. In this journey of life, we carry the baggage of hurt, pain, regret and anger, finding it difficult to let go. Over a period of time, we even start using them to justify our actions and feelings.

We know we need to let go and move on. We have read this and heard it several times, yet we continue living with our emotional baggage even though we can see it affects us. We are harbouring the disease even as we continue searching for the antidote.

The one compelling reason to let go, even as simple as it may sound, is that carrying this emotional baggage is just not worth it. The real cost we are paying is the cost of losing out on the opportunity of being happy and enjoying life.

Imagine if we were living with the agony of having lost a million rupees, constantly revisiting the past events, and someone came along and gave us two choices. We could either look back and agonise over the million we lost, or we could look in a different direction where millions more were waiting for us. Prudence would tell us the right answer.

It is no different with emotions. The cost of holding on is far greater than the value we can create by letting go. The release of pent up energy directed towards exploring exciting opportunities and building enduring relationships results in a life which far outweighs living in the past.

We can either sit in a dark room and curse the darkness or draw the curtains of our minds and allow the light and freshness of life fill us. When we view the dark past with the joy of the present and the cheer, optimism and hope of a bright future, we have acknowledged our past but decided to move beyond.

We do have the capacity this very moment to decide the future we want for ourselves. We cannot undo the past, but let our emotional baggage not be our undoing.

(Picture-Keswick in the Lake District, UK)