There were two friends named George and Dee, they both got a task to climb Mount Everest on the same day as a competition. In preparation for the task, they were allowed to pack enough things that would sustain them throughout the task, they will surely need food, water, lights, and others.
After packing, George knew that it would be difficult for him to climb the mountain carrying lots of bags so he ensured he didn't go with unnecessary things. He reduced everything, he ensure he had snacks and mostly can food in his pack.
Dee on the other end didn't learn from his friend, he packed to the extent that he took things he didn't need. He included a battery to charge a laptop he wouldn't be needing for the trip, he went with a small cooking gas because he had raw food which automatically needed him to carry pots as well. He had three times of what George was packed.
They met at the point of starting the competition, Dee laughed at George because he had just one bag pack. He mocked him and made it clear that he only packed for himself and won't be helping George with anything during the task.
They both laughed at each other as they both set out for the task.
They haven't walk for an hour when Dee got tired, he called George who was far ahead to ask if they could camp together since it was evening already. George agreed and they did camp together, while Dee was trying to make his meal, George was fast asleep since he had already processed can food.
George woke up quite early and left because Dee was slowing him down, Dee wasn't happy but believed he would catch up since they were both after the rewards.
It took them days and Dee never catch up with George because his pack was slowing him down, George was covering four times the ground Dee was doing in a day. George reached the peak and was confirmed the winner of the competition, he was picked with a chopper but he requested to see Dee before he was taken away from the mountain. His wish was granted, the Helicopter couldn't land near Dee and George was only able to scream, "Let it go".
You must be wondering why Dee didn't use his common sense, he should know that those things would reduce the speed at which he moved. It is easy to judge him because we are seeing his mistakes but many of us ain't seeing our own mistakes in life.
A lot of us are just like Dee, we have packed unnecessary things along with us as we journey through life and it is reducing the rate at which we move towards achieving our dream.
What are things we have to let go of?
There are a lot of them but I will discuss a few and hope it opens our minds to the things slowing us down in life, we can then make amendments to avoid living a wasted life.
1. Toxic people
We meet a lot of people in life and not everyone we have met is worth keeping close to us in the journey of life because they are toxic and would cause us harm no matter how careful we are.
They ain't there to help instead they will delay or even stop you from moving at all, we must detach ourselves from them.
Who are the toxic people:
They create more problems for you instead of bringing solutions.
They discourage you from moving forward in life.
They always see a problem with your dreams.
They steal values from you instead of adding more values to you.
They take opportunities elsewhere instead of bringing them to you.
They are everywhere and they even get too close just to win our trust, another thing they are good at is making us do away with the people who really want good things happening to us.
2. Negative thoughts.
Negative thoughts is another thing you must let go because it drains humans mentally.
A lot of people have ended their journey to success because they allow negativity to take over their thoughts. These thoughts are inevitable but we mustn't make them feel comfortable in our head, they create fear of what's ahead and you will start coming up with conclusions like,
I can't.
What's ahead is way bigger than me.
I don't have what it takes.
At a point, these thoughts start clouding your judgment and it would make you commit mistakes that would end great dreams or journey to success.
Say no to it, and always counter those silly thoughts with positive thoughts.
3. Shackles disguising as Past.
I am not one of the people who encourage others to dispose their past because not everything from the past can be trashed, there are lessons from the past we must hold on to, and failure to value those lessons would only make us repeat a mistake that cost us a lot in the past.
What's in the past possession that we must let go of?
Fear, failure, disappointment, and any other thing connected to the past that serves as shackles that can prevent us from making progress.
I met a lady in 2007 when I wrote the GCE examination, she was very much older than me and it was her fourth sitting. She kept coming back to write exams with her past haunting her, she was coming unprepared hoping she would be lucky because she failed when she was prepared.
I was trying to explain something she asked me before the exam commenced, one discussion led to another and she shared her story with me.
I saw the potentials in her but she doesn't believe that what she knew could help her with the exam, we talked at length and I promised to help her out which turned out to her helping me because she was good with geography and I wasn't.
Fortunately for her, she passed her exams while I failed the same geography but the following year was my Waec and I did well with it.
Some of our past can rob us of confidence and hope of doing greater in the future, that's the reason why we must let go of every past holding us back in life.
4. Sin
The bible makes me understand that we can't live in sin and expect grace, you can confirm that from the book of Romans 6:1.
Involving in sin would make us miss out on God's blessing because he desists sin but loves us as his children, it will take us far away from God which wouldn't be of any benefit to us.
Sin is something we must let go and holding onto it would only consume us here and after. The Bible says what shall it profit a man who gains the whole world and loses eternal life?
It would be a wasted life and the worst part is that there is no redemption after death, it is better to make the decisions while you are still here.
You have a choice to make between letting go and staying stagnant and I believe that you know what's best for you.
All these summed up would only form a big burden tied to our leg, it would keep slowing us down, and when we eventually get exhausted from dragging it around, we quit.
Please note, the image was created by @jimramones and used by me due to the permission given as a participant of the #DreemPortChallenge
#dreemPort
The lead image was made by me using the Canva App and the mountain climbing is fictional, I wrote it just to make everyone understand the purpose of the purpose.