The Deciding Factor

How do we let go? Some people believe that anchoring ourselves to something is of great courage, strength, and honor. These are signs and adjectives for letting go, not holding on. There are times when it takes an audacious spirit of bravery to realize that letting go is a means of survival. Letting go is not failure, on the contrary, it is the door to victory.

Letting go doesn’t mean you don’t care about that thing, that person, that event, that circumstance, or whatever else has you imprisoned with hopelessness. Letting go means that those things served their purpose to teach, mold, embrace and give you a sense of freedom. Letting go is finally releasing that which caused major control in your life.Yesterday I spent the day with my little cousins (ages 5 – 9). We were making fairy houses for our woods. Every so often I would hear one of them complain that “I can’t do this, or I can’t make that.” I finally expressed to them that “can’t” is not a nice word. “Can’t” stops you from moving forward. The word “can’t” should not be in their vocabulary. Every other time they said it they caught themselves (sometimes looking at me and putting their hands over their little mouths) and changed the word. They were letting go of an old behavior that stops them from trying, growing, and moving forward. Letting go applies to so much more than just breaking off from a life decision!When it comes to letting go of people and relationships we truly hang on to the side of a cliff. We leave claw marks on the rocks. We walk a tightrope from one valley to another. It is amazing the things we do to force a circle into a small square. It’s fantastic to watch how liberating it is to finally let go of the control. The illusion of control diminishes our worth. Fear of change added to the idea of failure equals stagnation and heartbreak.I woke this morning letting go. I opened my eyes and breathed in the humidity as the rain is being held by clouds. Nature has a way of dumping and never looking back. Once it releases it doesn’t think, “Oh, crap did I do that right? Should I had let go of that rain, that storm, that hurricane? Man, what will these humans think of me?” It is in our nature to do the same. All we had to do is face those things that no longer serve our spirit. The word “can’t” has no business being part of your language. Do it! Releasing those things that no longer serve you is the deciding factor.

“Come to the cliff, he said.They said, we are afraid.Come to the cliff, he said.They came.He pushed them.And they flew.”