Letting Go

Let’s just be glad we had some time to spend together Kris Kristofferson

Letting go is hard. The loss of a loved one. Preparing to leave the safety of school. A child leaving home. A relationship drawing to a close. Retirement….. The list is endless.

Most or all of us have faced or will face one or more of these events in the course of our lives. The first of the four Noble Truths of Buddhism states that life means suffering. Even in the midst of our happiest times lies the reality that our happiness is transient. And when it passes we experience sorrow, perhaps fear.

But life is not all bad, just as it is not all good. Life is about experience. And often our greatest experience comes from our hardest lessons. But this does not mean we should not enjoy the pleasures of this world. For they exist to ease our journey. Neither does it mean we should dwell in morbidity because all good things will end.

Instead let us recognize that life is a flow. It cannot stop, speed up, slow down or reverse. Things constantly move on. Because that is evolution. It is only by the leaving of one room that we can enter the next. And if we do not progress, we cannot grow. And if we do not grow we have no purpose. So we must accept, and make the best.

Some people have a tendency to resist the flow. To try to stand still. And to feel resentful when they find that all around has moved on. But trying to keep the moment is like grasping a butterfly. As your fingers close around it the fragile beauty is destroyed forever. Better to enjoy it while it settles upon your hand, and to wish it well as it continues its journey as you continue yours.

Live for the moment. Enjoy it to the full. And when it passes look back with pleasure, and look forward with hope.