Yesterday, I received a phone call from a friend. Her beloved pet had passed away. She was devastated naturally. Another friend had a family upset…another was in pain with a bad tooth ache, another was having a relationship problem, another health issues. The one thing all my friends had in common was they didn’t want to burden me with their ‘stuff’. They felt what they were experiencing was ‘small’ to what the past weeks have been for me. Yet, I didn’t feel their crosses were any less than mine at all.
In life we are presented many crosses to carry. For some thankfully they are not so heavy… for others, the crosses are beyond lifting… even to drag them is exhausting. It doesn’t mean one is less than the other. To the person carrying the lighter cross, to them it may weigh a ton. The one carrying the heavier one may be so used to being thrown challenges, the cross doesn’t seem so heavy at all… it just is, so we get on with it the best we can.
Please don’t ever feel you can’t share, no matter how small your crosses may appear to another. It is in the sharing of our hearts we can be lifted, our crosses can become lighter, we may even be able to drop them and walk free from the heavy weight we have been carrying for years and years, or even a moment. You are not judged on the size of your cross… it is personal to you. And that’s to be respected and acknowledged. As the saying goes, God only gives us as much as we can carry.
Each day, I try to become aware of who’s crosses I’m actually holding on to! Most times they are not even mine to carry! So I make a conscious decision to release them… and mine as well, for as my beautiful dad said to me before me flew, ‘At the end of your life Jen, nothing really matters.’
In gratitude and love eternally for the privilege of being trusted in order to share your crosses with me. And I’m thankful I have also chosen not to carry them for you. All I can do is to make it a little lighter. As you have done for me. xxx
