The Art of Letting Go

In the past months I have had to learn the art of letting go. The last ten years have been like a beautiful chapter in a book filled with extreme highs and and lows. Its been a time of mountain top experiences and the lowest valleys I have ever walked through ... sometimes surrounded by people, sometimes on my own. I have found my life partner and companion, I have lost some of the most important most precious people I will ever know. Some through death others through circumstances others because I have had to walk away from a friendship that has been a large part of my life ... a friendship that has brought much joy and happiness but has become toxic - partially due to a lack of care and attention, partially due to life's twists and turns that has changed us both.

"People can be like plants, in odd ways, and if a relationship is not watered or nurtured, it too can suffer from thirst, its leaves can turn from a bright green to a muted brown, and, like the colorless leaves on the once healthy plant, it too will eventually die. Letting go involves surrendering, for our own good, and ultimate peace of mind. Often, we must let go as well to honor and respect the needs of the other person, even if their goals are quite different from our own. This does not mean that I do not feel sad, and I truly miss this person, but sometimes we have to let go to grow, even with the pain and hurt, so we can get to the other side of the rainbow, with the hope that there is still light inside."

So then, a chapter in my book of life closes, but as it closes another opens. Those who have been lost will always remain precious memories. Others whose characters were not so vivid and vibrant are blossoming and becoming the main characters. The people I laugh with ... the people I love with and the people I cry with. The people I am comfortable sharing my memories with and listening as they share theirs. Life changes, we change, but with the changes comes new life, new hope.