Holidays are a great opportunity to relax and unwind, but the thought of packing a suitcase often left me feeling the complete opposite. Over the years I’ve noticed how I had built a level of anxiousness over what to pack and this left me feeling overwhelmed or burdened by the task.

A number of questions would rattle me, including:

• How much do I pack?
• What is the weather going to be like?
• Have I packed enough warm and cooler clothing?
• What if I can’t buy the same things in the place that I am visiting?
• What if I pack too much and the luggage exceeds the weight allowance at the airport?
• What will I wear to make me ‘fit in’ with the other people I am travelling with?
• What if I choose the wrong clothes and they won’t have my size to purchase more?
• Do I have enough toiletries and do I pack extra for others that may forget?

With time, I noticed that I had become accustomed to feeling this way and noticed how much this overwhelm would start to consume me weeks before I was heading off.

In many situations I would start to plan outfits in my head and organise mini “to do lists” to make sure everything was packed and that I didn’t miss a thing. This even affected my sleep and I would often dream I was at the airport catching a flight and had either forgotten to pack or, even worse, left my passport at home.

This changed when I recently became inspired by the work presented by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine on appreciation being the key ingredient in building a solid foundation upon which to base all aspects of my life. I knew that I had developed a solid foundation that supported me in my day, but I was missing the glue that held this all together – APPRECIATION!

Over the past month I have worked on developing an appreciation of the smallest parts of my foundation; from the quality of the time I take to moisturise my hands each day, to drinking water regularly to keep myself hydrated. I realised that my suitcase packing is a simple task that can be done as part of my day, no different to my morning routine that included showering, dressing and eating.

As I planned for a recent trip, I stopped and asked myself a few questions before I even attempted to place the first item in the suitcase:

How much do I really need to support me on this trip?

• Am I choosing clothes that I feel to wear – or what I think others would like to see me wear?
• Am I appreciating the care and detail I take into packing?
• Can I ring a travel buddy and ask if we can share items such as hairdryers etc., to avoid doubling up?
• Is the trip about ‘impressing’ others or ‘just being me’ with others?
• Is what is in the suitcase coming from my own choice to feel what is needed to support me?

What I discovered with the packing process this time was:

• As I packed each garment I appreciated how great this felt on my body.
• I chose shoes that were not based on how well they matched my outfit, but on how comfortable they felt on my feet.
• I selected clothes that I knew from experience kept me warm in winter and cooler in the summer months.
• I packed toiletries that I use each day, so this was already part of my foundation.
• I packed colours that I felt to wear, not what I thought would suit the places I was travelling to.

What seemed to be a hard and overwhelming task became so simple when I chose to appreciate myself even more and simply placed these items in my suitcase.

Building a foundation of appreciation has been the way in which I have chosen to heal a lot of the anxiousness, not only in packing a suitcase, but in many other aspects of my life. The feeling of it being a burden, the list writing and the worry about not getting things right are no longer part of my daily routine.

Learning to live from my foundation of appreciation and bringing this to my work, chores and all the other areas of my life has removed the anxiousness and given me more space to enjoy the opportunities that are on offer.

With this appreciation, anything is possible as it reminds me that anytime I may wobble or have self-doubt, I can return to the simplicity of the foundations I have laid down.

With deep thanks and appreciation to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, for showing me there is another way to live that supports us all to build more of who we are, and remove the overwhelm and anxiousness that can be fed to us when we choose not to appreciate our inner knowingness.

By Anonymous

Further Reading:
Appreciation – A Pathway To Love
Appreciation, Appreciation, Appreciation
What Is The Science of Appreciation and How Does It evolve All of Our Relationships.