Lightening the Load

I have recently experienced some life changes that have left me feeling a little wobbly, hurt and broken. When a friend of mine suggested that I check out the 100 Hearts Challenge (http://www.presspause.org/100HeartsChallenge.en.html), I jumped at the chance to try something a little different to work toward healing. Each day a new challenge is presented, the ultimate goal being to help women to:

Regain control

Rebuild confidence

Create new visions for being healthy, happy and whole

Today’s challenge was to take our purses, dump them out on the bed, examine the contents and then…

Choose….carefully!

Choose only 3 things to carry in your purse that, for the next 2 days, will be the only things you carry.

Three.

That’s it. No mas.

You would think that the dilemma of choosing precisely what three items to carry would be difficult enough in itself, but immediately my mind went to this…

{{Wait….which purse should I carry? Should I carry the pretty purple one with lots of bling on it that I got for my birthday?}}

{{Or should I carry my practical, go-with-everything black purse?}}

And if I carry the purple one, which outfits and shoes should I choose? I mean, if I have to sacrifice the majority of the items in my purse (which represent a great deal of my life), I should be able to make up for it with other stuff, right?

I’m pretty sure I just missed the whole point of the exercise. The counselor leading this challenge is known for saying “stay out of your own way.” Uh – can you say FAIL?!

So, as I softly giggle at myself for being such a dork…I start over and try again.

Dump purse.  Examine contents.

Lots of quarters
   Wallet
     Makeup bag
       2 flash drives (why?)
         Sunglasses
           Phone
             Agenda
                Small Journal
                 Pen
                   Gum
                     Empty iPod case (again…why?)

Choose three.  Ok, I can do this.

THREE…really??? Is this even possible?

Ok, so I’m having a hard time…I begin to take things away one by one…process of elimination. The first thing to go is the empty iPod case. Next the quarters, then flash drives. Agenda, journal, pen and gum. Ugh…makeup bag!

That’s it…my 3 things to carry for the next 2 days in my purse are my phone, my sunglasses and my wallet.

I lift my purse, throwing it over my shoulder, nearly slinging it across the room because it’s so light. I feel like half of my life is missing!!

I’m not exactly sure what the point of the exercise is except maybe to make us more aware that we carry around a lot of unnecessary stuff – both literally and figuratively!

Now if I could just get rid of the "unnecessary stuff" that seems to have accumulated in my mid-section...