This quote came to mind for me today, as I’m consistently and repeatedly being asked to let go:
Some of the things I’m being asked to let go of are easier than others. For example, letting go of a career a couple years ago that never really felt like it was a good fit was exhilarating. And it was also scary, as I contemplated the unknown and began life as an entrepreneur. Sometimes we hold onto things that are familiar even if we know they aren’t a good fit for us because we’re afraid of the unknown. “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” goes the saying, but I never liked that way of thinking. It only gives two options, and both aren’t that attractive. What about heaven? And by heaven, I mean joy, bliss, contentment, excitement? Why would I stay in a situation that I KNOW doesn’t work for me rather than take a chance that a new situation will REALLY work for me?
And then it seems that taking that leap of faith opened up the door to other leaps of faith, and some of them haven’t been so easy to accept. The song from Les Miserables comes to mind: “I had a dream my life would be so different from this hell I’m living. So different now than what it seemed…now life has killed the dream I dreamed.” Sometimes it’s not so easy to let go of our original dream of how we thought it would be.
So you have a choice: you can choose to stay in the hell that Fontine captures so eloquently in her song, or you can choose to let go of the dream. And letting go isn’t easy. If your journey is anything like mine, it includes grief and fear and frustration, which all must be felt and allowed to flow through your body. And when it seems that the dark night will never end, you come to a place of acceptance of what is the reality, at least for now, and it opens you up to new possibilities, new dreams, and magic. For I don’t believe we were given our human life to suffer, but rather to find our way back to peace and happiness again and again.