Dump the Junk In Your Trunk

Is there junk in your trunk?

It tickles me how often a life lesson comes at me in an unexpected way.

Here’s my “life lesson” for today: It’s important for our health and happiness to “throw away” any old irritation, anger or grudges from the past.

Sometimes we call those old issues we carry around our “junk in the trunk” because we tote it around, but it’s not visible. We’re not always aware of the effect that stuff in the trunk can on our lives.

Here’s what happened this weekend to remind me of this important lesson:

My son and his children were visiting, and we went over to someone else’s house. As life happens (and every parent knows), it suddenly became time for the little one to fill his diaper, which of course he did. For some reason, it was especially “ripe”, and the host (happily) had diapers, too, and my son changed him. Because this was such a stinky event, Ken asked for a trash bag, and we put the soiled diaper in the trunk of my car to dispose of when we got back to my house.

But somehow, in the middle of them packing up to go back home, I totally forgot about that diaper! That evening, when I made a quick run to the grocery store, yikes! did my car smell. When I got back home, I took wipes and wiped down the little one’s car seat, thinking that was the problem, and I opened the car windows, and inside. Then, about an hour later, it registered what that horrible smell in my car was – that stinky diaper was still in my trunk! and the smell was so strong it had permeated the whole car. I started laughing at myself. That “junk in the trunk” was my problem. Dump the junk and life would be good.

Suddenly, I realized how symbolic that was of life. If I’m carrying around old grudges, irritation, anger inside of me from past events, it’s like I’m toting around that smelly diaper in the trunk of my car. And as that stinky diaper was kind enough to demonstrate, past junk will spread its smell throughout your whole car – or, your whole life – until you take it and put it firmly in the trash can.

Now that I’ve tossed out that particular junk in my trunk, the smell is gone and I love driving my car again. And as I start examining my life to discard old anger, irritation, etc. and putting my trash firmly in the trash bin, I’ll be in the driver’s seat of my life, and loving it.

Do you have any junk in your trunk?