Let it Go

When I first started this blog back up over a month ago, I talked about an experience I had when I truly realized the power of letting things go. There was a person at a meeting who got under my skin and I was raging about it for weeks until I got to a point where I realized that they were dictating how I was feeling. At that point I realized that I didn’t want to let someone else hold sway over my feelings and how I went through life. It was then I moved on and since then have done very well at letting things go. Well, last night I was at another meeting where I saw first hand the power of letting things go again, just from a different perspective. At times I can be brash and opinionated and don’t always consider the full extent of my words and how they will affect others. A post I wrote a while ago now had that effect on some people and I saw first hand how words can be misconstrued and also how they can bring people to anger. Not everyone had the same reaction from what I wrote. Some thought it was well written and appreciated what I wrote while others were affected in the polar opposite way taking it personally and letting it affect them negatively, which they also told me about (the post was “An Aggravation”).

At this point, I can see both sides and understand how people took it personally and were angered by it as well as the opposite. We are all human and my hope is that we are all constantly learning, I know I am. There are parts of me that are yet immature and works in progress. Life is about growth and becoming better versions of ourselves every day, which I strive to do, but I digress. Without going into extensive detail, I will only say that I hope that those who were angered by my words seek to understand where I was coming from in writing what I wrote. There are two sides to every story and often times people, myself included, look at one side only. Yet to understand something is to look at it from all angles, to dissect it and see where a person is coming from, to attempt to understand their motives and reasons before judging and berating them. I have come to the point in my life where I seek to understand all points of view, even if I don’t agree with them. By doing so, it is less likely that I can be angered by something because there is an understanding there. Is it always easy? Hell no, it takes will power and determination and above all a sense of humility knowing that my own opinion may be wrong and I may have to re-think my own perspective. However, that is truly the best way to approach everything. I take more time stepping back now to look at things from a global perspective, something that it has taken me a lifetime to do, and I’m 44 and still maturing.

By seeking to understand all sides and opinions, it makes it easier to let things go, to move on, and continue living in the present and not letting the past affect us in a negative way. To bring up past events and hold on to them is to allow them to drag on us like an anchor, holding us back from what truly matters in life, deeper personal connections. I saw last night at my meeting a few people who are holding on to things in such a way that it changes their whole demeanor and is visibly holding them back. I only hope that they can seek to understand all sides for their own sake and learn to let things go so they can flourish more fully in their own lives. We all must learn to let things go more fully, to move on, to let bygones be bygones and live in the moment. To live in the past is to forego growth and vitality, its to negate the present and all it has to offer us. The more we can let things go, the more we can be present to others in the here and now, especially to those who matter most to us. My words written a month ago were almost re-hashed again, but to the credit of some in the room who it affected negatively most, they said no and moved on. Those are the people I respect the most, those who can view all sides, understand things fully, and move on in a meaningful way.

Now its time to get ready to back to Maine again, this time with my family to Acadia National Park. I will try to write, but can’t guarantee that I will be able to. Till I write again, be well and live in the moment.