Lessons from the Trail: Burdens and Loads
Burdens and loads - What’s the difference? Is there a difference? In the bonus video I share the story and experiences that inspired this share.
 

My story and experience

Some years back we decided to try backpacking. We had been tent camping for some years. Backpacking means all supplies for the trip are carried in the backpack. Ideally, the pack's weight, including all its contents, would be at most 20% of the body weight of the person carrying the backpack. That applies to a “go bag” for those of us who have those prepared!
 
If the pack's weight exceeds that amount, the person may be able to carry it, but the distance, the amount of time and the quality of their hike will be affected. The heavier the load, the more difficult the hike. Energy is used up quicker. Joints and supporting muscles are fatigued faster than if the pack's weight was within recommended load limits.
 

To think about

Life is like that. Sometimes we take on more than is reasonable. We may take on additional debt, extend ourselves too far physically or over-commit our time.
 
Sometimes we take on more than what is our load. We carry extra, other people’s stuff.
 
What other things come to mind that fit that picture of voluntarily and intentionally adding to our load?
 
When we do that, we use our energy more quickly and become physically, mentally and emotionally fatigued quicker than if we weren't carrying the extra weight. We can handle things for a time but find out it is too much over time.
 
Sometimes we believe something is a necessity that we can’t do without, so we carry it only to realize it doesn’t serve us. That may happen with physical and material things. Some memories and self-judgment are like that too.
 
Our human brain creates meaning around events in our life. We naturally walk away from every event with a story. Sometimes that story is a lesson that doesn’t serve us, yet we carry it in our pack. We carry it every day of our life, and it weighs us down.
 

Making personal choices

Each one carries his own load. We decide what’s in our pack. What do you choose to carry? What extra load, self-judgment, memories or limiting beliefs that no longer serve us are we continuing to carry? They are called implicit memories.
 
These memories and “lessons learned” run in our subconscious like a harmful computer virus. We often don’t even realize they are there sabotaging our life. Aroma Freedom helps us shed those beliefs and stories running under the surface. We pull apart the emotions and thoughts connected to the memory. Then I guide you to put it together in a brand new way. I’ve been blessed to see many others benefit from just a few sessions.
 
In life, as in backpacking, I've carried more load than was needed or reasonable. I took on what was someone else’s to carry. We also did that with backpacking, and I shared the story of what happened in the video. We had friends with us, so when we finally gave out under our load, we now had a burden. They stepped in to help and then stepped back out.
 

Burden vs. load

A burden is different from a load. I researched some verses in Scripture and found them helpful to understand. A burden is something we didn’t expect, something extra that life throws us. Others can step in and help us stay standing, steady us until we can transition the burden to our load. Others step in, and then they step back out.
 
Helping others with their burden is temporary until they can choose what to take out of their pack, how to adjust their load and make room for this new thing. For their sake and ours, we need to step back out. That's the critical part. That was something I needed to learn myself - to step back out.
 

Support and empower

So each one carries his load, but we help one another with a burden. Such balance helps us lift one another and keep moving forward through life together.

Check out these short courses designed to get you moving forward with emotional healing and gentle boundaries. You can also hop into the latest workshop or masterclass shown on my website or message me for info. 


Bonus Video from the Archives


Share your thoughts and comments below ▼ I love hearing from you ❤️

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4 Comments

  1. Enlightening and very helpful!
    Dee Castelli AUTHOR  07/25/2023 05:31 PM Central
    Wonderful!
  2. I’ve always loved understanding the difference between burdens and loads. Your experience illustrates it beautifully. Thank you.
  3. I do have sessions with a therapist. It is a lot different from yours. I am able to talk out loud about my feelings ,emotions and thoughts. I feel that this works better for me because I get to talk about the things that are happening to me and talking it out is wonderful. I feel a sense of peace and a big burden lifted off me. I can think about my emotions and feelings and reset that’s good but, what helps me is talking it out. I hold it in and my mind goes haywire. I do like the rest it does help. I really appreciate you for that Dee.
    Dee Castelli AUTHOR  07/25/2023 05:41 PM Central
    Absolutely a great idea! Aroma Freedom is a bottom-up approach. Even though it ends with top-down approach, there is great value in things like talk therapy and seeking a therapist. That's why the appointment form specifically requires agreement that a person understands AFT does not take the place of a professional therapist. Aroma Freedom doesn't involve sharing your thoughts and memories when a practitioner guides you. Sometimes we need to talk things out. I'm glad you're creating a mix of both approaches in a way that works best for your healing journey.
  4. Hi Dee, I really appreciate you sharing your experience. Sometimes people add a burden on others unexpectedly. I was weighed down with a lot of things that stressed me for days. I turned to Jehovah and I received peace from that stress. So, I decided to limit myself to certain people and I feel much better. But, there’s always something else that follows. So, I reset sometimes and it works and there’s times when I have to go to the Elders.
    Dee Castelli AUTHOR  07/25/2023 05:44 PM Central
    Placing limits on what we receive and offer to others is part of our human experience. There are so many examples of men and women of faith in the scriptures including Jesus who did the same. Excellent that you continue to develop an approach and blend things together to support your healing. ❤️

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