by Jill Pertler
Let it Go
My granddaughter likes to watch a certain movie - over and over again. In it, the protagonist belts out a message in song: Let it go.
There’s lots to be learned from Elsa. We should all be better at simply letting it go. Letting things go. Letting the past go. Forgive. Forget. Like it never even happened. (Easier said than done.) Letting the future go. Be open to possibilities - even the ones you’ve never considered or imagined. Control is overrated anyway. (Easier said than done.)
I learned the lesson of letting go a while back, but I realized it (again) just this morning. I guess it’s an idea worth repeating.
Or maybe we just have to remind ourselves over and over. In the midst of the storm. In the midst of the calm. In the midst of whatever life throws your way.
Let it go. The plans for today that go thwarted by a flat tire. The relationship that didn’t work out. The beach day ruined by rain. The marriage that ended in a bad way. When you planned on chicken for dinner and the grocery store is out of chicken.
When you utter harsh words you wish you could take back. When someone utters harsh words toward you. When you break a window. When you break your word. When the air conditioner breaks down on the hottest day of the year. When an unexpected expense threatens your monthly budget. When someone disappoints you and your heart feels like it is breaking.
When any number of things crop into your day or your week or your life and you sigh because you didn’t want or expect that thing or person or event to crop up just then - or ever. But it did.
Just let it go. Realize fully that you can’t change your circumstances. You most often have no control of your circumstances.
But you are in control of something even more powerful than circumstances: how you choose to perceive and react to them. And in that vein, I suggest (sing it with me): Let it go. I understand this isn’t easy. I know I am asking a lot. I realize sometimes letting go may be unattainable. It is for me some days. But I keep trying. As they say, tomorrow is another day.
In the song from Frozen, Elsa sings, “It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small, and the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all.”
This pretty much sums up the rationale and benefit behind letting things go.
Time often brings with it the gift of perspective. When we truly understand this, the mundane of the every day - however devastating or joyous – is fleeting. And there’s no reason to perseverate on the fleeting. Best to experience it and then move on.
Let it go. Letting go is emancipating. It is breathing when breath was a daily struggle.
It is trusting in the future. It is forgiving the past. It is making meatloaf for dinner when chicken isn’t available. Letting go is liberating. It is growth. And there are so many things we can let go. Let go regrets. Let go drama. Let go trauma. Let go of the big stuff. Let go of the small stuff. Let go of the inconsequential. Let go of the life-changing. Let go of the benign. Let go of the malignant. Let go yesterday. Let go today. Let go tomorrow, and the day after that. Let go thoughts of the way things should be. Let go ideas that don’t fit anymore. Let go of anything you can’t control (and let’s be honest, that is just about everything).
Let go and simply breathe. Life is beautiful. The world is beautiful, if we allow it to be.
And allowing it, most often starts with relinquishing control. With letting go.
It’s as simple, and as complicated, as that. Give it a try. Give it a go. Thanks, Elsa.
Jill Pertler is an award-winning syndicated columnist, published playwright and author. Don’t miss a slice; follow the Slices of Life page on Facebook.
