Breathe all the way into your belly,
To your ribs,
To your chest.
Holding at the top and exhale.
Pressing all the air out.
Inhaling again,
Filling up your belly.
Holding at the top and exhale,
Slow and long.
And one more time,
Inhaling,
Holding,
And exhale.
You can continue that breathing pattern or let it go.
With your eyes closed,
Begin to imagine within your mind's eye that you are in a dark forest at night.
The vegetation is thick and the tall trees are surrounding you.
You've been traveling through this forest for a long time.
You've walked through bogs,
Swam across the lakes.
You've hiked mountains and ran from bears.
You heed yourself atop a fallen log,
Inside a huge,
Ah,
As you sit on it.
The satchel you've been carrying on your back falls to the ground behind you.
Stressed,
Discouraged,
Alienated.
You look towards the sky and ask if someone,
Anyone will help.
Frustrated,
You yank the satchel from behind you,
Up and over the log,
To have it rest between your knees.
Slowly you open it to look at its contents.
Rocks.
Your heavy,
Rough-cut rocks are within.
You take out one rock and hold it in your palm.
Looking at it,
It reads,
You aren't pretty enough.
And you set that rock aside.
You pick up the next rock.
You aren't smart enough,
This one reads.
Setting that rock beside the last,
You pick up the next.
You are too aggressive and you're too timid and you will never get it right.
This one was a big rock.
But it too,
You toss beside the others.
Finally you pick up the next rock and hold it in your hand.
You turn it over to read it.
What does this rock say to you?
What negative thought have you been running through your head?
You place this rock with the other three as well.
Put the four rocks out of your satchel and on the ground in front of you.
You stare at them.
Finally you get off the log and with confidence you say,
No more.
Your voice surprises you as it comes from your throat.
Loud,
Clear,
Courageous.
As the echo of your no more ripples through the forest,
A bright light shines down from the top of the trees.
Looking for its origin,
You see the full moon.
The moon's light shines down on each of your rocks and disintegrates them.
In awe,
You look at the place where the rocks were once sitting and see nothing.
Your satchel is empty and the rocks you've been carrying for far too long are gone.
But why,
You ask aloud,
Why would you destroy them now when I've been struggling with them for so long and yell for them?
A calm voice replies simply,
You had to decide you no longer wanted to carry them.
You slowly pick up your now empty satchel and place it on your back.
Without the weight of the rocks,
You have the energy within you to continue to travel.
Travel knowing that you need to tell everyone that they don't have to carry their rocks anymore either.
