Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag!

My Dad, I know he's resting in peace or kickin' butt in heaven, when he was home, use to sing around the house.  One of the favorites was a World War I era song, that the only words I can remember are "Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile smile smile." Men going off to fight in the war sang it.  Men with troubles larger than I hope I'll never have to know. Yet,those words still sound great and bring me comfort.  For me,  it's all about putting worries aside, all the junk and crap and stuff of the world in one place and moving forward.  Sure the worries, junk and crap and stuff are still there, but smiling through is a positive force.  It is movement.  It's not letting that stuff get to you or bring you down. Being strong and positive through difficult times, whatever they are for you.
Singing itself is a very powerful vibration to the human mind and soul.  We'll listen to and retain the message communicated to us through music longer than one that is simply spoken.  When we are doing the ones singing, it is even more powerful.  I hear people all the time say. "I just don't sing.  I can't carry a tune in a bucket."  Oh, who cares how you sing, as long as you are.  I love singing and making up songs as I go through my day.  It lightens my mood, it helps me remember things and it's fun.  It really does help me put what worries me aside.
With all this said, stuffing troubles in a bag, is one way of dealing with worries and negativity.  Yet, it seems like taking all this stuff and putting it in my old kit bag, might be out of sight, out of mind, way of thinking.  I'm still dragging that stuff around.  Sure I'm smiling, but I'm dragging around a heavy load.
How about before stuffing them into a bag and allowing them to take up space and weigh you down, take that worry and turn it into something useful for you or someone in your life?  I know it can be challenging to set worries aside. Maybe looking at every worry is an opportunity to create.  To learn about yourself, create something amazingly positive, and move forward and away from the worry.  All it takes is one step away from the worry.  And then another step.  Soon you are down the road.

I've had a bit of a worry this last month or so.  My beloved Mickeygirl was diagnosed with hyperthyroid condition, they thought it might be masking a kidney condition.  I have gone down this road with her brother Jack the Cat, who passed last summer after battling the condition and me for five years. With Jack the Cat, it was a pill twice a day.  Mickeygirl's vet suggested the radiation treatment, if we can get her to respond to meds.  Radiation treatment has a high cure rate.  She has to spend four days in a hospital cage, away from home.  All this has been weighing on me.  And I confess, I'm a little worried.  Last week, her Vet told me that her thyroid is stable and no signs of kidney trouble, so radiation is going to be great next step.  I have mixed feelings.  I'm still a little worried about her and we aren't through the woods, but this coming Monday, Mickeygirl will become Atomic Cat!
In order to pack up my troubles in an old kit bag or in this case a Trader Joe's shopping bag, and prepare for Mickeygirl's hospital visit, I made her some things to take with her to be comfortable.

A foam pillow cushion, with her name on it.  2 high powered knitted catnip mice.  1 fleece blanket (in case she gets cold) and 4 cans of her favorite food.
I know my girl will be fine.  She's a brave, smart, survivor.  I did all this for me.  To ease my mind.  It was my way of having the illusion that I was in control of something that is so out of my control.  With that, I think that's why we worry.  In order to have that illusion that we are in control of something that is out or our control. Once I set my mind to creating a comfortable experience for Mickeygirl, I relaxed and a calm fell over me.  A reassurance that she's going to do great.  She's going to heal fine.  I stopped my need to be in control and worry cold in it's tracks.
I've come to see worry as the path that leads to the road to Crazy Town with a stop at the Negativity Mall, located just inside the gates of Crazy Town.  Those are tempting places to hang out, but I'm working on staying away.  I've said this before, the process of creating, anything, is forward movement.  The process of creating something positive is positive forward movement.  Once that cycle gets rolling, it feeds on itself in a good way.  Providing energy, clarity of thought, any number of good and joyful things.
So, like the song reminds us to "pack up your troubles in an old kit bag and smile smile smile."  A kit bag, traditionally carried all the things we needed in life to live.  So, by using that worry for creative material and creating something before packing it in the bag, makes it even more useful. I have a feeling it also makes the bag lighter to carry around as well.  That works it for me.

Is your old kit bag (or Trader Joe's shopping bag) full of stuff (like worry) that could be turned into something that would move you forward and add to your life, and make it easier to smile smile smile?  What will you create with all that stuff? ( I know you have it, cause all God's children got stuff.)
Until next week...create to feel great!
41 projects complete!  11 to go!