So we are having a garage sale Friday and Saturday.  Or more accurately, Nichole is having a garage sale.  My idea involved a dumpster and/or lighter fluid, but as usual, my better (and more intelligent) half’s idea prevailed.  So for the last couple of weeks we have been going through our house, shed, and attic and separating the stuff we know no one would want with the stuff that almost no one would want.  Going through all that stuff that I not only don’t need, but had forgotten we had, got me to thinking about things we carry.

One of the first books I taught as a student teacher was Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried.  My mentor teacher really teed up an easy one for me; the kids really liked it, which always makes you look really smart as a teacher!  A collection of short, semi-autobiographical stories about his experiences in Vietnam, the title refers not so much to the weapons, food, or other materials they lugged around but with the thoughts, fears, and emotional baggage that they carried with them.

So this morning as I waded through our garage filled with things that at one time we thought we needed but now are willing to part with for 25 cents, and as I rolled out in the beautiful morning for a run, I began to think of things that we all don’t need but carry anyway.

It is incredibly rewarding to let go of a grudge; to forgive someone, to recognize that things ultimately worked out for the best.  The spring and summer season is a time for renewal; really take some time today and figure out something you are carrying that you don’t need, and get rid of it…