HANGING ON (Read and Reflect #4)
For months I’ve had my eye on a broken tree branch dangling above the street. The obsession comes from fear. If I ever tell you my anxiety is gone, I am a liar.
For months I’ve had my eye on a broken tree branch dangling above the street. The obsession comes from fear. If I ever tell you my anxiety is gone, I am a liar.
Freight train winds arrived last week and lingered for several days. I was positive the branch met its demise.
The next morning I woke ready to celebrate liberation from my fear of being impaled during my morning walk.
My celebration was short-lived. The broken branch greeted me. It hadn’t budged.
Whole trees were horizontal on front lawns, but this mangy hunk of wood was steadfast in its desire to kill me.
Occasionally, I walk and talk to nature. I’ll “caw” back at the crows, or stand in the streaks of bright morning sun, look at my dogs and say “breathe it in girls”. So of course, I stopped and asked this evil branch, “WHAT ARE YOU HANGING ON FOR”?
Then it fell.
JUST KIDDING.
It did nothing.
I suppose if it could talk, it would say, “TO MAKE YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, DUH”.
You win branch. You win.
Last week, I wrote about letting go. This week I am writing about hanging on.
After bouncing these juxtapositions around in my brain I haven’t created a magic formula to help us determine when to let go or hang on. However, I have arrived at the conclusion that I think we need to practice letting go more frequently.
I’m not sure that humans are meant to hold onto anything for dear life.
From experience, I know that when we exhaust all of our energy hanging on we are unable to extend our arms and reach out for the goodness that’s often right in front of us. Hanging on comes from fear. Letting go comes from love.
It took explicitly giving myself permission to stop hanging on to situations, relationships, beliefs and thoughts that weren’t serving me.
Letting go has allowed me to grow, but it is a continual, often grueling, practice.
So perhaps if the branch is still there tomorrow, I’ll look up at it, and give it permission to let go.
Ideas for Reflection:
Please share your thoughts in the comments if you feel called.
Name something in your life you are hanging onto.
List all of the reasons why you are hanging on.
Identify if each reason is coming from love or fear.
If the concept of letting go is too scary, identify an area of your life where you can move from holding on tightly and practice loosening your grip.
Write yourself a permission slip to let go of something you’ve been holding onto tightly.