"Willow, if you're going to hold your tablet you'll have to put those toys down!"
That's what I told my 3 year old as I helped her to get dressed this morning. I noticed she had a small toy in each hand all while trying to hold her tablet up to her face. Needless to say, it wasn't very working well.
As I watched her struggle with my instructions, it sparked a thought in my mind about the importance of letting go. To embrace today, we have to let go of yesterday. To embrace a new life, we have to let go of an old life.
I would even assert that letting go was one of our first life lessons. To enter the world, we had to let go of our mother's womb. To walk, we let go of crawling. To go to 1st grade, we let go of Kindergarten. The list goes on and on!
Most recently, I had to let go of the love of my life and Willow's father as he died of cancer just a few short weeks ago. It was, and continues to be, a heart wrenching journey. Yet, I'm able to unpack some universal truths about letting go that have been helpful in the past and continue to serve me well today.
Live with open hands and an open heart. Posture matters.
Look forward, move forward. Look up, get up. Only look back to unpack wisdom.
Learn the Power of the Pivot. Life can change quickly. Adapt. Adjust. Repeat.
If you reflect over your life experiences, you'll likely see that you've had ample opportunities to let go. Have you done well with that? Jesus said, if you hold tightly to your life you will lose it, but if you lay down your life for My sake you will gain it (Matthew 16:25 paraphrased).
If you're a believer, you know that life is preparing us for the ultimate exercise in letting go.
That is, the day we let go of life and embrace eternity. It is this day that every Christian lives for. Until then, we'll get a lot of practice rounds!
On a scale of 1-10, how good have you been at letting go? You can share in the comments, or grade your own papers privately. :)
Hey...Happy New Year!!
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