The Repack Zone

Today, I’m on my way back home from a ski trip with my wife, Laura. Laura is an experienced skier and loves the sport. On the other hand, I had only been skiing once in my life before this trip. The prospect of packing and trying to fit all of those big and bulky cold weather ski clothes into my luggage was not something I was looking forward to! It reminds me of a story I told in The Lepers’ Lessons-

The first time I took college students overseas for a study abroad program, the weight limit the airline set for a single checked bag was fifty pounds. We had informed all our students about the airline’s policy, but one young lady must not have read the memo (or maybe she assumed no one would notice). At the check-in counter in Atlanta, she could barely hoist her bag onto the scales. It weighed 110 pounds! In this case, the airline didn’t offer the option of paying an additional fee for excess weight. If she didn’t get her bag down to the weight limit, she simply couldn’t go with us.

Her parents had come to the airport to see her off. The three of them opened her bag and went to work. For the next thirty minutes, tears streamed down her face as she took out shoes, clothes, and other things she had been so sure she needed for our trip. Over and over again, she zipped up her bag and put it on the scales. Each time it was still too heavy, and she had to take more things out … prompting more anxiety and more tears. Finally, she achieved her fifty-pound limit. The moment was marked with equal parts relief and sorrow. I’m sure she thought she would run out of clothes after a few days, but she made it just fine.

Have you ever had to repack your bag at the airport? In some airports there is actually a designated area specifically for this called a “repack zone.” It’s frustrating and embarrassing to open your bag in front of everyone, showing what’s inside, and to sort through your personal property. Your anxiety builds as you don’t want to miss your flight, but you also don’t want to leave without the things you need. As I reflect on this story, my ski trip, and the purpose of a repack zone, it causes me to consider what I am taking with me into this new year. No, I’m not just talking about literal items, but what baggage am I bringing with me into 2017?

Sometimes, when we enter a new phase of life, it’s easy to try to take too much with us. The truth is that we all have baggage, but in this new year, is there anything you are bringing with you from last year that you need to leave in the last year?

Leave the baggage of 2016 in the repack zone, and let go of everything that might prevent you from reaching your goals this year.

When we go on a journey, we need to have the right stuff with us. For this ski trip, I had to pack bulky ski clothes, but there is such a thing as overpacking. There is even a degree of overpacking that can prevent you from getting to your destination. Even though it can feel frustrating and embarrassing, spend some time in the repack zone at the start of this year and evaluate the baggage that you need to let go. Let go of your resentment from the relationship that went wrong this year. Let go of the family argument that happened over Christmas dinner. Let go of the frustration you have toward your coworkers.

Let go of your regret from some poor business decisions.

Leave the baggage of 2016 in the repack zone, and let go of everything that might prevent you from reaching your goals this year.

Decide that today will be repack day. Decide what you don’t want and take only what you need into next year.