You Don’t Have to Carry Everything Into Your Next Season

There is something about a new season that makes us think about what comes next. We start thinking about new goals, new opportunities, new habits, and maybe even a new version of ourselves. We think about what we want to add to our lives and what we hope will be different.

But lately, I have been thinking less about what I want to take into my next season and more about what I might need to leave behind. Because the truth is, you don't have to carry everything with you.

Some things were necessary for a particular season of your life. They helped you survive, grow, learn, or become the woman you are today. But just because something served you then doesn't mean it is supposed to go with you now. Sometimes we carry things simply because we've carried them for so long that we've forgotten we have the option to put them down.

We carry expectations, both our own and other people's. We carry responsibilities that we accepted years ago without ever stopping to ask if they are still ours. We carry old disappointments, mistakes, guilt, and sometimes even old definitions of who we are. And all of that can get heavy.

I think there comes a point in our lives when we have to ask ourselves whether the things we're carrying are helping us move forward or making it harder to get there.

For me, part of growing has been learning that I don't have to prove myself in every room. I don't have to say yes simply because I am capable of doing something. I don't have to carry every problem just because I know how to solve it. And I don't have to continue being the woman I needed to be in a previous season simply because that version of me is familiar.

That doesn't mean I don't honor her. I am grateful for every version of myself that got me here. The woman who worked hard, figured things out, pushed through, showed up, took care of people, made mistakes, learned lessons, and kept going deserves my gratitude. But she also deserves permission to rest.

There are things I know now that I didn't know then. There are things I value differently. There are places where I've grown, and there are places where God is still working on me. That's life. We are supposed to evolve, and I think part of that evolution is learning to recognize when it is time to release something.

Release doesn't always mean that something was bad. That's important to remember. Sometimes we release good things because they have simply completed their purpose in our lives. Sometimes a commitment has run its course, a dream changes, our priorities shift, or God begins pulling our hearts in another direction. Letting go doesn't erase the value of what came before. It simply makes room for what comes next.

There is a scripture in Ecclesiastes that reminds us, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1

I find comfort in that because it reminds me that seasons are supposed to change. We don't have to force ourselves to remain in places God may be calling us to move beyond, and we don't have to keep carrying things simply because they once belonged to us. Maybe the next season of your life doesn't require you to do more. Maybe it requires you to travel a little lighter.

As you think about the season you're in and the woman you're becoming, ask yourself: What am I carrying that I no longer need?

Maybe it's an expectation you've placed on yourself, guilt over something you can't change, the need to always have everything together, a commitment, a habit, an old story about yourself, or the belief that you have to be everything for everybody. Whatever came to mind, sit with it for a little while. Ask God what is yours to carry into this next season and what you finally have permission to put down. And when you know it's time, release it.

May you lead well, live well, and continue cultivating a life of purpose.