What is Emotional Baggage and What Can You Do About it?
Emotional baggage is heavy. Years ago, a cousin much younger than me didn’t understand my dissatisfaction with my life. She remarked that I was pretty, had a good job, a house—everything one could want—yet I was unhappy. Several years later, I can attest that emotional baggage weighed me down. No amount of money or possessions mattered because unresolved trauma kept resurfacing, knocking at my door.
Emotional baggage often stems from unresolved childhood trauma. It can take years to acknowledge and understand its impact on your present life. For instance, I struggled with passive-aggressiveness and an inability to speak up for myself, which caused issues with coworkers in every job I had. It took me years to assert myself and find my voice. Though encountering mean-spirited individuals was tough, they ultimately helped shape me into an assertive person.
Your unresolved trauma or emotional baggage will always knock on your door until you resolve it. It may take years of therapy, reprogramming affirmations and other tools to feel free of traumatic experiences and the depression associated with those events. I wrote about my long healing journey in detail here https://www.amazon.com/Workbook-Healing-avoiding-Attracting-Deserve/dp/B0D2LN9Q3H/
All the things I wanted in life seemed out of reach because of my aura and the emotional baggage I carried. It was too heavy, draining, and filled with complaints. People came into my life, but they didn’t stay long, or I never felt fulfilled in places I entered because of their heavy and toxic environments or auras. I had to reach a point where 'enough is enough.' I worked diligently to overcome what I felt was unfair and undeserved. I processed my emotions through journaling, wrote and recited affirmations, attended therapy, and wrote down my prayers—I never gave up.
I've come to understand that happiness is a feeling that won’t be constant every day; it's an elevated emotion. My goal is to achieve a level of 'contentment' and experience elevated feelings of happiness, joy, excitement, and bliss when they come. I also acknowledge that I will have difficult moments, feel sadness, or experience grief. The key is to recognize those feelings, address them, and return to a level of contentment.
