"It's never easy letting go....." Letting Go by Suzy Bogguss
I am NOT a music person, but when I started to think about this post two songs kept playing over and over in my head. I couldn't shake these songs, so I decided to go with it! The two songs seem like an odd duo, hopefully, by the end of this post, it will all make sense! The first song is "Letting Go" by Suzy Bogguss and the second song is "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder. Here they are if you have not heard them or it's been a while.....
I am going to start with "letting go" and then move on to "superstitions".....
I think that letting go is a unique place where joy and pain coexist. It is never easy to let go, but it is always necessary to move forward. If you think about it, at any given moment, we all have something we are holding onto way too tightly. What is it for you? Maybe it is a resentment, fear, anger, sadness, loss, disappointment, shame, embarrassment, etc.??? We can not experience new beginning if we do not let go of the old.
We just "let go" of the home we lived in for the past 18 years! It is the longest I have lived in any home in my entire life. It is the home where we raised our family and created amazing memories. Much loved filled our home. I worried that selling our home would loosen my grip on all of this. As a perfectionist, I wanted to be in control and moving felt a little reckless. I love this quote I recently read by the Minimalists, "The first step in letting go is understanding that our memories aren’t inside our things—our memories are inside us."
In the processes of moving, we purged many of our possessions. I touched on this in my last blog post. The evening before closing, the house was empty. However, there was one last "thing" that remained..... a 25-year-old bottle of champagne that we received on our wedding night (pictured above). This bottle of champagne has moved with us to six different houses and three different states. Mind you; it is only a $10 bottle of champagne! At first, we said we would open it on our first anniversary, then our first home, perhaps at the birth of our first child, and on and on. Eventually, I believed it would be bad luck if we opened it (seriously). So, the champagne journeyed with us! The journey ended May, 3rd 2017. The champagne didn't make the minimizing cut. Not going to lie, it might have been the hardest possession to let go of in this whole process. Why? Sounds crazy, doesn't it! Well here comes the superstitious part.....
"When you believe in things you don't understand, Then you suffer, Superstition ain't the way, yeh, yeh." Stevie Wonder
Over many years, working to give up my superstitions has benefited me immensely. I can't say I have completely let them go, but I am much better. I had a real belief that my fears/superstitions would keep me safe (a topic for another post). If I had held onto these beliefs, I would not have been able to move forward and live a life free of crippling anxiety!
So, think of one thing right now that grips your heart and kind of makes your stomach turn when you think of it. Got it - ok now..... Let.It.Go! Let go even if it is for a minute or two and see how it feels. In my experience, letting go takes prayer, practice, patience and time (a lot of time in the case of the champagne). In the end, letting go is SO worth it! Keep practicing.......