We store things in boxes and put them away for years, often forgetting they even exist. When we are forced to take stock of our things and clean up, we realise there were many things put away which should have been attended to earlier. It is the same with our lives as well. Over the years we have put things in different boxes and pushed them into some corner of our minds which we don’t visit. Opening these boxes may not only unlock value, but may well have roots and answers for many of our issues in life.

A friendship that has gone sour is never easy to overcome. Irrespective of who we think was responsible, we carry a silent affection for that person. We don’t discard them away, we put them in a box of someone we cared for and still care for, but things are not as they should be. It is time to open the box and do one of two things; either we muster the strength to reach out and rebuild the relationship, or we accept the fact and only carry positive thoughts of them. When we open that box, we bring closure to the subconscious pain we carry.

Mistakes are part of life, as are our successes. There are many mistakes we have put in a box, not wanting to confront them. It is time to open the box and consciously visit the past. When we find the strength to consciously relive the experience as a fact, without guilt and remorse, we may discover new insights and learnings about ourselves and the world. When we open the box, we draw insights and inspiration to build a better future for ourselves.

When we see others succeeding, we often remember the opportunities we had but were not able to convert them. We have a box of lost opportunities that seems difficult to get over. It is time to open the box and realise a simple truth of life – often things play out the way they were meant to. What seemed to us as lost, was probably not meant to be ours in the first place, just as things we had not envisaged miraculously came into our life. When we open the box dispassionately, we stop feeling the weight of regret and start seeing the design of life, making us happier, more spontaneous and more accepting of life.

And then there are treasures of unexplored talents, waiting to be discovered and unleashed, boxed away because we were either too afraid or were not allowed to express ourselves. Irrespective of our age, it is time to open the box of hidden beauties in us and find the courage to experiment and unleash the creativity and beauty of which we ourselves were unaware.

When things weigh us down, it is very convenient to put them in a box and wish them away. We may not realise it, but it is the load of the closed boxes in our life that weigh us down. It is time to open the boxes.

(Picture-Stanley Park seen from Coal Harbour,Vancouver)