A troubled and burdened man prayed every night that God would lift his burdens “Please God help me I can no longer live like this, help ease my pain… I work so hard every day to make a better living, I want to be rich, I want to enjoy life, I want to be happy with my life partner and family, please God help me! Help ease my burdens” Day after day the man prayed for God to help him asking for the things that he longs for with all his heart.
One day God came to the man and asked him “Son what troubles you so much?” the man replied “my life is full of hardship that it suffocates me and which I can no longer bear…” God felt the man’s agony that He decided to help him. He asked the man to hold a backpack and fill it with all the things in his life, starting with the little things like his home, household belongings from pictures, shelves, dining table, couches, pens, books, candle sticks, car, bicycle etc… Than God asked the man “Does this feel heavy?” the man replied “yes it does.”
Now God asked the man to add the bigger things in his life to his backpack like his job, projects, mortgage, travel, outings, grocery, acquaintances, friends, colleagues, kids, spouse, emotions etc… The man did exactly what God asked him to, than again God asked him “now how much does your backpack weigh?” the man answered “a lot! it is a very heavy burden to carry Lord.”
“If I ask you to remove things from your backpack, what would it be? would you remove photos? furniture? career or relationships?” The man started thinking what could he really remove… his beloved car or maybe his colleagues in the office that he appreciate their presence everyday or might it be his wife, his life partner… perhaps all these negotiations, arguments, secrets or compromises that are weighing him down so much…
The man, perplexed, asked God how this would help him. God explained that each of the component that he has put into his backpack are his life choices and they represented each a burden that he carry; some are small burdens, others big burdens, while a few were giant burdens not forgetting every burden in-between like his daily encounters such as traffic, anxiety, stress, love…
Feeling his growing confusion God continued “Son, you know moving is living and the slower you move the quicker you die… Your life burdens are the sum of your choices and it seems they are weighing you down as your backpack is right now… And today I am giving you a choice, a choice that you always had and will have in life which is how to live your life. Everyday you are put to the test, it is up to you and only you to decide whether to make it bitter or better. Every challenge put upon you comes to either break you or make you. The choice is yours to either go on with your life as a victim or victor.”
The moral of the story is that we are all given a free will that leads us to make any choice in our life as human beings whether to be happy or sad, unthankful or grateful, successful or unfortunate… The choices we make are what forms us and characterize us.