Copyright 2019 Leanne Willen. All rights reserved.[/caption]
When I first started dating my husband, I was pretty fresh out of college and searching frantically for a job. I was stressed out and overwhelmed over silly things all the time. Then, I finally landed my first real job in the marketing department of a big law firm in town. Suddenly, I was stressed out and overwhelmed for a million more reasons, but none all that important.
Between my new job, moving into my first apartment (with roommates), and learning to navigate the choppy waters of adulthood, my future husband had the pleasure (ha!) of witnessing many emotional outbursts (and married me anyway!).
In the midst of my rantings, he would make his hand into a fist, lift it into the air, and then open his hand as if he were throwing my "problems" into the air.
"Let it go," he'd say to me.
It became his trademark. And soon enough, it became our trademark. Suddenly, I was doing it back to him.
As we grew in our relationship, we found ourselves telling each other to "let it go" quite frequently.
Life was so much more enjoyable when we let the little things go. When we refused to get worked up about things that didn't matter.
Lately, I have forgotten what was once our trademark. I've started to let the big things and the little things pile up on me. I get overwhelmed easily. I complain and worry and stress a lot.
I haven't said, "let it go" in ages. And I haven't let it go in ages, either.
In the scheme of life, most of what I'm upset about isn't all that important.
It's time to let it go.
I suspect you need to let it go, too. Maybe you are as guilty as I am of sweating the small stuff. Ask yourself if it will matter a year from now or ten years from now.
If not, let it go.
******
I recently made an incredibly tough decision to let something go. I'd been holding on to it like a security blanket. But the more I clung to it, the less I trusted God and His plan for me (and our whole family).
After a great deal of pouting and sulking, I finally had a good cry about it.
When I finally let it go, I felt a wave of peace wash over me. I also felt freedom that wasn't there before.
And I quickly realized that letting go of one dream didn't mean a door slammed in my face. I had to let go of that dream in order to open the door to new dreams and possibilities.
Is there something you've been holding on to as I was my dream? A dream of your own that you can't really follow through right now?
Perhaps you are holding on to a fear or a regret or even an actual thing. Is it holding you back from living?
Let it go.
******
I think of all the ways I could be sharing my gifts and talents but don't for a variety of reasons. Most of it boils down to fear. What will happen when I really do put my full heart behind my talents and let them go? Will I be rejected? Will it hurt? Will I be criticized? Judged? Or worst of all, ignored?
I'll never know unless I try.
Think of the unique gifts and qualities you've been blessed with.
Have you been hiding from them as I have? Are you afraid of what might happen when you finally put them to use?
It's time to let them go. Share them with the world and see all the beauty that comes from it.
Copyright 2019 Leanne Willen
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