How to Take Flight by Letting Go

Letting go can be scary and painful and even a little bit splintery (as my dear friend, Bethany, suggested in her post on Facebook earlier).

But we have to let go if we are going to fly.

I threw away my childhood stuffed rabbit. My brother gave it to me when I was born and up until then, it had been his – or so my mom once told me.

That stuffed rabbit went with me everywhere – I even took it to overnight camp when I was in junior high and high school.

It has been cried on, loved on, cuddled with, and repaired.

After this last move, I noticed its stuffing had dried out and the degraded mess was falling through holes in its hands and feet. I sat down to cover them with slightly damaged handkerchiefs that had been my grandmother’s.

While I was sewing the first stitches, I noticed the eyes needed to be repainted. The paint had long ago worn off and now it was two solid white orbits staring out at whoever dared to walk past. In all honesty, if it weren’t for the fact that the rabbit had been with me my whole life, it would have been a little creepy.

I also noticed the ears were beginning to come apart, so I added that task to my growing repair list.

And then it hit me. I was going to spend several days and more than a little emotional and physical energy to repair something that nobody would ever be able to use again. Even if it was “fixed,” it wouldn’t be fixed enough for someone else to love for the next several decades.

Letting Go Can Hurt

I put it in the garbage bag I started for “needs to be discarded” – those items that someone survived the packing for the move but probably shouldn’t have. I stared at that bag for a week.

(Even now, I am tearing up thinking about it)

There were so many memories connected to that rabbit. How could I let it go?

Several years ago, I wrote about a crystal candlestick my grandmother gave me for my birthday just before she died. It was the last gift she gave me. One afternoon, one of our cats jumped up on the mantle and knocked the candlestick onto the rock hearth – shattering it in the process. I told my son then (when he threatened to end the cat for its carelessness) that my memories of my grandmother weren’t in the candlestick but in my heart.

Letting Go Doesn’t Mean It’s Gone

So, I tied up the bag and sent it off to the dumpster.

This morning, I thought about the rabbit and how much it helped me through the tough times and shared in the joyous times. And I realized that too often I hang on to things well after they have served their purpose.

Maybe I’ll need it later.

Maybe I can repair it.

Maybe I’ll be able to pass it on.

Maybe I’ll . . .

Too much of my life has been weighted down by the maybe stuff.

But if I shift a little and let go of the maybes then I can lean all into the solid strength of right now. And with that leap, I will be able to fly into all I’m uniquely designed to be.

Letting go is a part of the Focused Flexibility process (and it’s incorporated in spirit into the quarterly planner). Join me on Thursday, November 7th, 2024 for an online networking event with Biz Net Sparks as I share more thoughts on how to be focused on your BIG DREAMS but flexible in how you get there.

CLICK HERE to reserve your spot.