Freedom In Letting Go

I once heard a quote about love that was something along the lines of "if you really love something, you must let it go." I remember that quote striking me as odd. If you love something, why wouldn't you want to hold onto it forever. And if someone wanted to take it away, they would have to pry it from your kung fu grip. Right?

But the older I get, the more I realize (ironically enough) the truth of those words. The fact of the matter is, there's a freedom in letting go of something. In fact, sometimes once you actually let it go, you realize it was never yours to hold in the first place.

The same is true for control. A friend of mine recently wrote about that very thing: learning how to let go of her sense of control. And more importantly, learning what happens when you do let go. Because the truth is, you and I have control over far fewer things than we think.

It only takes a few minutes of CNN or CNBC to realize just how little we actually are able to control. Even Uncle Sam, in all of his power and strength can't snap his fingers and pull our nation out of a recessapression. (It's my new favorite word to explain our current economic condition.)

I think the same thing applies on a more micro/personal level too. You and I may think we have a secure job or a relationship that will always be there. But that's simply not true. Everything vanishes eventually. Even you. I don't mean to be overly abrupt, but it's true.

The fact of the matter is, we can't control most things in our lives. Therefore the best that we can do is to work on the things that we can control, and learn to let go of everything else.

Working on it,
John