01 Nov Let It Go
A couple of years ago a mentor of mine shared with me a paragraph or poem that he had gotten. I don’t remember it all but the first line and the essence of the idea has stuck with me. It was titled Let It Go and the first line, as close as I can remember, said, “Let go of the way life was supposed to be and embrace how it is.”
This mentor, Lloyd is his name, knows many things. He knows about life as he has lived quite a spectacular one and he knows about me as he has been around me when I have been rock solid and also with me when I have been flying off the rails. He knows that like everyone, I hate change and that I seem to have a special ability to feel whacked when things get unpredictable or, as I said in a previous blog, off script.
Well, if ever there was a time to get whacked by things going off script, 2020 has to be in the hall of fame of rogue years. No need for me to list all the difficulties but the pandemic alone has made this a special kind of tough year. How we spend our time, do our jobs, manage our health, what our leisure activities are, and our overall level of anxiety have been changed, altered, and kicked into overdrive.
On top of that, not only do we hate changes like these, we HATE being told what to do. We don’t want to do what we’re told we must but rather we want to do what we want. We don’t want truth to be what it is but rather we want truth to be what we believe it should be or has been or what we learned as children.
Sorry but this year is just not cooperating, is it? We are having to deal every day with what we wish were not true and what we do not want to have to do. I’m really sorry for us all but at what point do we have to lean away from what we want to be true and lean into what is actually true? At what point do we let go of the way life was supposed to be and embrace how it is?
Here’s why. There is not much joy in all this but there is some if we look for it. There is a lot of fear and pain but there is also a lot to learn. There is so much confusion and strife but there are moments of peace. There are so many opportunities to do and say things that damage our relationships but there are also moments in which relational growth and emotional connection are available if we can be vulnerable enough to accept them.
I’ll never praise or glorify what we are dealing with in 2020 but I will always honor our efforts to make the most of what it is and what we cannot change. Let it go.