Loss & Letting go

Letting go is easy. Letting go is hard. Letting go is as hard as you make it. We have to let go of everything at some point. Sooner or later, by choice or by chance, we will let go of it all. Wouldn’t you prefer to let go rather than to lose?

Do you know when the end is near? Are you the one who leaves the last unreturned messages on their voicemail? Do you send the eloquent thank you card creating a dignified end? Do you avoid the other when things start to unravel? Do you pick a fight? Do you cry yourself a river? Do you turn to chocolate? Do you get nostalgic and sentimental?

Growth is the only evidence of life. Growth requires we let go of the past that no longer serves us to make room for the new. The most beautiful of roses drops a few leaves to redirect energy to the blooming bud. The rose feels no guilt, she understands the natural order of things. At the end of the season she drops blooms and leaves and retreats into herself to prepare for the next season. She is not saddened by the withering flowers; makes no attempt to convince them to stay on.

So why do we feel the sharp sting of an ended friendship and the dull ache for the end of an era? Why do we continue to grasp & wish the end away? There is tremendous grace in bowing out. Amazing peace in having gratitude for what was.

Letting go hurts when we judge the loss as unfair. Letting go is liberating when we see it as a natural cycle. The choice is ours.

The lessons of loss are to enjoy it now for what it is because the pleasure may be short lived.

And that nothing that can be lost will bring us real & lasting happiness; we are responsible for our happiness with or without it.