Seasons: Letting Go

This week I want to return to the importance of different seasons as we pursue our dreams. Where I live we have just transitioned from winter into spring. The snow is gone. Plants are coming up in our garden. And I have started biking to work again. It is pointless to try to hold back the seasons of our lives. As much as I love winter, when spring comes, winter is gone. The hats, gloves, heavy coats and snow boots that are essential in the cold of winter, are unnecessary and uncomfortable in spring. So it is with other seasons of our lives, like holding on and letting go.  

I have been writing a lot about holding on lately. It is a good thing to hold onto the things that matter, like your higher purpose and core values. But the end result of a lot of holding on can be a lot of unintended accumulation. We can become so full that there is no room for anything new in the pursuit of our dreams. 

Photo Credit: A Glimpse of Blue

The season of letting go is about choosing to get rid of things and make space. It is about dropping things that are weighing us down. It is about leaving some things behind. It is about reducing clutter. It is about paring down to the things that matter. 

We may need to let go of physical things, like toys, clothes, books, supplies, etc. I have held onto stuff for many years because I may need it some day. It is interesting how much time and energy I spend managing things that I do not use or need. It is also interesting that I often don't miss those things when they are no longer there to remind me of their presence. At times, I try to consciously get rid of stuff a little at a time and enjoy the feeling of the space that it creates. That then motivates me to take the next step of letting go.

We may need to let go of the things we fill our time with, like longstanding roles and responsibilities that no longer fit, unproductive habits or escapes. These familiar things can get in the way of the new season that is awaiting us. It is a tragedy when a new exciting role is turned down for a role that we are successful and comfortable in but have outgrown. We may refuse the call in the story of our life that is unfolding. Likewise, when our time is so full of unproductive pursuits, we may miss an opportunity for something that really matters to us. We may even need to let go of some things that have worked well in the past, choosing instead to embrace learning and change.

We may need to let go of beliefs that we have depended upon, like conclusions about people or how the world works. Through seasons of holding on, it is easy to develop survival mechanisms, building defences against people or circumstances that we feel threaten our dreams. What we learn in times of adversity may hold us back when abundance returns. 

Letting go is ultimately about making space to walk further into our dreams. One ancient teaching lets us know that there is a season for letting go. A second one issues an invitation - let us throw off the things that weigh us down and the things that entangle us and let us run the race that is set before us. Despite being written thousands of years ago, these are timely words for today as we walk into our dreams.