When it all gets too heavy

Sometimes you don’t notice how heavy it is until you stop trying to carry it all at once.

I need reminding of this, the last couple of weeks particularly.

On a trip with friends this week, we did a walk up the hill near our cottage.

Great company. The best spring weather we could have asked for. It was worth the steep trek for the perspective, seeing for miles, snow on the peaks, sun on the loch.

A moment just to pause, rest and take in the devastatingly beautiful view.

As we climbed, we had to shed layers. Hats, scarves, jumpers. Things that had kept us warm against the crisp Scottish chill graduated into restrictive weight as the gradient increased.

My family and I have climbed this hill many times. We knew:

- The view would be worth the climb

- The small signs that tell you how many turns are left

- That shedding layers is part of the process

Oh, and that a pocketful of sweets is essential motivational fuel.

Our friends didn’t know any of this. They trusted us though. Kind of. And followed on.

I hate a LinkedIn post that says, ‘I did this thing and it taught me this.’

This was just a hill climb on a beautiful day. It didn’t teach me anything new. Other than confirming that strawberry laces are the sweet of choice for teenagers.

But I needed this walk. And I needed it this week.

I needed the perspective. The reminder that sometimes we’re carrying things that are no longer helping us forward. Not always tasks or workload, but expectations. Roles we’ve outgrown. The need to appear fine.

I needed to remember that it helps to have people alongside you, who’ve trodden a similar path or simply know how to keep you going when things feel heavy.

That we don’t need to hold it all together all of the time.

As the first peepings of spring arrive, it’s worth noting this. The seasons know better than we do. There’s a time to carry. A time to rest. And a time to shed.

So if anything resonates, perhaps it’s worth asking what it might be time to put down for the next part of your season? Can anyone help you?

(And whether you have enough strawberry laces for the journey.)