What's in Your Backpack?

Tonight, I actually got to have date night with my husband. He is a natural born film critic. He critiques the actors, the directors, and even down to the lighting. I, on the other hand, watch a movie for the humor, the message, or for pure entertainment. Tonight, we saw Up in the Air. He wanted to see it for all of the awards it is nominated for, the director, and the actors. I saw it because he wanted to go and who says no to seeing a movie with George Clooney in it. And unfortunately, I have to admit that he is usually right when he picks a movie. All of that aside, as I am sure he was critiquing everything about the movie, I was looking for some sort of message. Something that makes you look at life differently. Something that makes you smile when you think about it. Something to add some sort of enlightenment to my day. Ryan's (George Clooney) job is to travel the country firing people. He is a guest speaker at several events. He always talks about a backpack. In one speech he talks about putting everything material that is in your life and fitting it into a backpack. He talks about how heavy it would be. Everything from your clothes, to your couch, to you bed. The weight of the backpack would begin to bog you down. Then, he says, "What if you set it on fire? How enlightened would you feel?" Then, he talks about having a backpack and adding the people that are in your life. From the most important and special to small acquaintances. How full would you back pack be?

I have a life full of "stuff" crammed into one room. I feel as though it explodes on a daily basis. I feel as though I couldn't say that one thing was more important than the other, but it does cause alot of stress. So much stress in fact, I had to buy an organizer this weekend. Which in turn caused more stress because of the money. Our lives seem to be an endless cycle. I truly believe that each person that is placed in our lives are here for a specific purpose. To help us handle the "stuff" that our backpacks contain. My backpack is so full and weighs so heavy on my shoulders everyday. As I revert back to yesterday's blog, I have forgotten how to relax. I have forgotten how to lighten-up. Everything is so serious and I find myself thinking about how each thing will make impact tomorrow.

I leave you with one last thought for tonight: what's in your backpack and how does it effect your life? At the end of the day, if you could only put a one thing in your backpack, what would you put in? A person, clothes, or item of some importance. At the end of the day, what truly matters?

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on
life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company.... a church...a
home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past....we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.

-Charles R Swindoll