Closing The Curtain Part Two: When Letting Go Means Learning...

          For some people, letting go of the past (and the people in it) is an easy thing to do. For others, letting go can be the harddest thing in the world.  We have to, in order to let go, in order to let go of someone, learne what it means to let go, learn how to let go, and most importantly, learn from letting go.  So what does it mean to truly "Let Go"?  Letting go means releasing YOURSELF from the emotional hold someone has over your life. You see, we often times think that letting go means simply releasing the other person from your grasp...that alone won't get it. Releasing them from your grasp without releasing yourself from the emotional hold they have over you is kind of like giving the cashier one dollar for your 99cent purchase and then asking for your penny back.....why?!?  Holding on to that penny is only reminding you of a dollar you no longer have. Let them keep the damn change!!! Allowing them to keep the change is releasing yourself from the emotional hold of the other person. That is how you can begin to let go...by not wanting that penny; by not wanting the memory of something you no longer have.
          Another fact about letting go that we must realize is that it IS NOT PAINLESS. But we must welcome that pain because with pain comes growth. We can't learn from what we don't experience and we can't grow from what we haven't learned.  Letting go, no matter how hard it is or how much pain it causes us, teaches us that we arent perfect.  It teaches us that we don't have all the answers and that we can't solve every problem....and that's ok.  It's ok to be wrong about things because when we are wrong, we present ourselves with opportunity to grow and to learn.  We are able to look within ourselves and say "hey, I can work on this...I need to change that." We are able to identify what helped us along the way and what hurt us along the way; as well as what helped and what hurt the other person.
          Learning from letting go isn't as simple as it may seem.  We, as learners, have to be cautious as to what it is exactly we're learning from letting go.  We tend to surround oursleves with those people who, appearingly, want to aid us in the "learning process".  They tell us what to do, what to think, what not to do, what not to think, and so forth and so on.  We allow ourselves, because we are hurt, to let our "friends" learn for us.  Although this may seem like a good idea, because it eases the pain and gives us momentary comfort, its not a good idea.  Because at this point we have stopped learning from letting go but have instead began learning from our friend's ideals of relationships.  Thats when growing becomes hard.
          Learning is hard work.  It's painful, it's tiring, and sometimes you get cut in the process.  But you know what, living is hard work as well.  You wouldn't stop breathing at the expense of living; so why stop learning at the expense of growing?  This is when letting go means learning.
--Think About It.