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Backpack Breakthrough: Releasing the Weight of Unspoken Words
Episode 129th November 2025 • Youthing Secrets • Kristin vanTilburg
00:00:00 00:14:36

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What's one thing you wish you had said... that maybe now feels too late to say?

In this episode, I explore the research behind "the backpack" — what 1,200 elders in Cornell's Legacy Project called the weight of their unspoken words, unexpressed love, and unresolved regrets. Their biggest regret? "I wish I had said 'I love you' more."

I share how my mother's death at 103 taught me to leave nothing unsaid — and why carrying that backpack isn't just emotionally heavy. It's aging your biology.

This week's invitation: Choose one regret. Express it — out loud, on paper, or just to yourself. Then let it go. Your cells will thank you.

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