If you look at a group of runners about to start a race you will notice they are wearing light clothing. How odd would it be to see someone standing amongst them, ready to run, wearing a heavy jacket, a long pair of pants with pockets full of stuff, heavy boots and a backpack full of rocks. Their journey will be tough. They may not reach the finish. That is what it looks like to run the race of life with burdens. Burdens weigh us down. They distract us, rob us of the momentum toward our goals, sap us of energy, consume our headspace and resources.
Burden needs to be removed.
But how?
To start the process of removing a burden we need to stare the burden in the face. Name it. What is the burden? Is it an addiction? Is it a toxic relationship with a colleague? Is it a lack of financial resources? Burdens, and especially multiple burdens, can all get intertwined and become messy and entangled in our heads. Now that you are clear on the burden, it’s time to consider what it would take to remove the burden. It may be helpful to ask someone to unpack this with you. Often our perspective is compromised when we are lost in a burden. Issues can become much larger than they are. The perspective of someone in your tribe may be helpful in rightsizing the burden and what can be done about it. The end goal here is a burden removal strategy. What do you need to do to remove the burden? For some this may be a long process involving many steps. For others, it may simply be a conversation or a phone call. You may require other people to be involved. You may even require professional help or a program as such. The longer we live in the burden without dealing with it, the heavier the weight of that burden becomes. It is important to make sure you don’t numb yourself against the burden. Numbing is trying to ignore it or distracting yourself with other activities when you feel weighed down. Numbing doesn’t remove the burden. It simply prolongs the negative impact. Deal with the burden and deal with it now.
To reach our desired finishes we need to run light through The Middle. It may feel tough to deal with our stuff, but that is part of what it means to be human. Breakthrough will come if we stare burden in the face. It won’t come if we continue living the same way hoping our burdens will simply disappear. Remember The Middle is best done with others, so why not share your burden with someone in your tribe today and ask them to hold you accountable to stripping off the weight and running light again.