How Much Does Your Life Weigh?

I just finished watching one of my favorite George Clooney movies, Up in the Air. And no matter how many times I see it, I'm always caught off guard by the opening scene where Clooney's character Ryan Bingham speaks to a group of men and women at a business conference. The question he poses goes something like this...


How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you're carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life...


After having his audience think of all the "baggage" they have in their lives in the form of material possessions and personal relationships, he goes on to suggest that a person should empty his/her backpack of these things in order to achieve success and happiness. Even if you haven't seen the movie, you can guess that by the end, Bingham realizes he is delivering a false message but is helpless to change the impact it has had on his own life.


So how much does your life weigh? I ask myself the same question every time I see the movie. I've decided to post that quote on my desk at school and around the house in several places as a reminder to -  keep life real, pack my backpack with my most treasured items, and toss out the junk that weighs it down. If this is 
such a simple philosophy, then why do I find myself at times carrying an overloaded pack?


I can't possibly explore the answer to that question in such a short space, so perhaps I'll save it for a future blog. Or maybe I'll just toss it into the junk pile.