Give Up Your Burden and Move On

How often do we spend our time over-thinking things? I do it a lot. When I’m in my head more than in my heart, things get lopsided pretty quickly. This way of living hit home about a year ago when a dear friend of mine was dealing with a painful problem. It involved shame, guilt, and feelings of hopelessness. She was really struggling with this problem and could not get past it. It dominated her every thought. She was pulled down by it daily. She was living in her head, over-thinking it and letting it dominate her life.

John 5: 1-18 tells the story of a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. Imagine that! Jesus approached the man and asked, “Do you want to be healed?” The man replied by feeling sorry for himself, saying that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the nearby pool to be cleansed and healed. Jesus responds by telling him to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Immediately the man was cured.

We are sometimes like the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years . . . except our paralysis is more mental than it is physical. We can make a choice to let our burdens dominate our lives, or we can make the decision to pick up our mat and walk. Here are some ways to pick up your mat:

1. Ask yourself the question: Do you want to be healed? Explore it. Write down reasons why it’s easier to stay stuck. Then, consider the reasons that it’s hard to get unstuck. Accept the fact that it’s hard to get unstuck, but that doing so is the only path to growth, acceptance, understanding, and grace. When you’re ready to answer the question with a resounding YES, you’re ready to move on to step #2.
2. Do something radical. The only way to shake off a burden is to do something opposite of that burden:
• If you are at an impasse with someone in your life, forgive them. Try writing a letter of forgiveness. You don’t need to show the letter to that person, but just the act of forgiveness can be freeing. Take it a step further and reach out to that person. It might be the hardest thing you’ll ever do, but it could be life-changing for all involved.
• If you’ve made a big mistake, forgive yourself. Try talking to a trusted friend or get some help from a counselor or coach and talk through ways to move beyond it. You can also write your mistake down on a piece of paper in great detail, cry over it, and then tear it up dramatically or set it ablaze! Mistakes are a part of the growth process. We all make them, and we can move on by finding the lessons.
• If you are burdened by a decision you are trying to make, try going with your gut and then work towards making that decision right instead of focusing on making the right decision.
• If you’ve suffered a big loss in your life, allow yourself ample time to grieve. Write down all of the things you are grateful for with regard to that lost person or situation. Then, make the conscious decision to set your sights on moving forward using what you’ve gained from that person or from your situation. Take one small action to move forward every day.

Making the decision to be healed is hard, but when you realize that this is the first step in the process of moving forward, you can begin taking those first difficult steps to the nearby pool to be cleansed and healed. Completely.