…Leaving What is Not

Thursday, Day Four

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10 NRSV)

Yesterday’s blog (Taking What is Essential…) offered some inventory questions to consider after a door closes. What have I lost? What do I still carry with me? What do I need for the next step? These questions help us to grieve with gratitude, take stock of what remains, and discern what is essential for our new journey.

Yes, the closing door signifies the end of some important aspects of our lives. But if we open our hearts, the closed door can become an invitation to new beginnings. We can make the most of this time of change and closure. Today we ask a few more inventory questions, this time about other non-essentials we might leave behind. What am I truly relieved to have left behind the closed door? Are there any negative things that still cling and need to be released? What positive things are no longer necessary?

What am I truly relieved to have left behind the closed door? In all of life’s changes, there are some things that we readily know we are blessed to leave behind. Some of those were the reasons to leave in the first place. But have you ever found a new freedom or joy after the initial heartache of a loss you didn’t expect?

I once told a friend that I was disappointed when I didn’t get a job that I wanted. She surprised me by saying, “Good- now see what else is in store for you!” She was right. I later learned about some additional aspects of that job, and I knew I would not have enjoyed working for that company.

Are there any negative things that still cling and need to be released?  When a door closes on a difficult time, we may believe we have finally left behind all of the unpleasant things from that time. But they continue to cling or linger with us. We may find it more challenging to walk away from those nagging and unpleasant feelings such as grudges, guilt, resentment, anger or stress.

We may choose to close the door on an unhealthy relationship, but until we leave behind the hurt and pain we cannot receive the gifts of peace and forgiveness. We may leave a stressful career, but if we habitually take on new stresses, the gift of relief never comes. There might be a beautiful purpose to every closing door, but unless we allow its complete closure, that purpose may never fully bless us as it should.

What positive things remain but are no longer necessary? We have an invitation to consider letting go of even more. Are there things we can choose to totally leave behind in order to live this new life with greater freedom and lightness of being? What things have blessed us in the past, but no longer hold the same gift for us?  Will these things now bless someone else more than us? Can we leave behind all that may now be cumbersome, outdated, or unnecessary?

What are the things we can completely leave in order to completely live?

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. – Lao Tzu

I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become. – Carl Jung

Today expect something good to happen to you no matter what occurred yesterday. Realize the past no longer holds you captive. It can only continue to hurt you if you hold on to it. Let the past go. A simply abundant world awaits. – Sarah Breathnach

Photo by Farrel Nobel on Unsplash