I am a sentimental person! I have almost every card/letter given to me in the past 15 years or so. I keep journals and planners. I have many nostalgic items from over the years. There are just some things I cannot throw away. In the last year or so I have gotten a little better. I started to go through my belongings and even though items had sentimental value, I had to realize that it was taking up space that could be used in a more productive manner. I started doing this with my phone too. I had text messages and voicemails from when I was still in high school! In one very brave moment I turned on the setting “Delete text messages after one year’ and they were gone. It freed up so much storage on my phone! In all honesty, I don’t miss the items I threw away or the messages, but I do have space for whatever may come!
This issue of me holding on tightly to things did not stop with items of sentimental value. It extended to people, ideas, dreams, and expectations too. I would “white-knuckle” things as long as I could just to keep them around. A relationship was ending…I would try my best to keep in contact with the person even though we didn’t have anything to talk about. An expectation on how I thought my life should go did not happen…I would try with all of my might to control the situation to have the outcome I wanted. THIS. WAS. TIRING!!!!! I was trying so badly to keep things in my life that were obviously not for me while simultaneously missing out on what was entering my life, or already there to stay. I don’t know what the exact wake up call for me was, but I did finally get the message. I had to learn how to let things go.
My tendency to hold on tightly to things stems from my desire to control situations. I can admit that I do like being in control. There is a sense of safety that it gives me. What I realized though is CONTROL IS AN ILLUSION! There are not many things in life that we can actually control. I do have influence over many things, but control, nah! So now, I am learning what it looks like to live a life without a false sense of control and attachments that weigh me down. Like many other instances of my “unlearning” that you have read about in previous blog posts, letting go has brought a sense of freedom. Sometimes it is scary. My feelings still get hurt. I still grieve losses. I still struggle with letting things be. But I have also found a sense of joy in just being and going with the flow! I can relax knowing that the world is actually not on my shoulders. I can enjoy relationships even more because I know that the people are there because they want to be and that all parties involved can show up as their authentic selves. I can practice standing in the truth that what is meant for me will be while acknowledging my responsibility in making it happen as well. I can rest in the hands of my loving Father knowing that He is ultimately the one in control and He cares deeply for me! I don’t have to worry about things not working out because the right things always will. That’s peace!
So, I write this hoping that if you need to let some stuff go on today, you will know that you are free to do so. I pray that God will comfort your heart and let you know that the weight of the world and the attachments that are not serving you are not your load to carry. I pray that as you let some stuff go that you will be in awe of the space that you have freed up and be expectant about what will take its place!
What are you opening up space to now that you have let things go? For me it's new relationships and personal dreams!
Love y’all!
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