Let It Go

I have a bumper sticker on my car that says “Let it Go.”
It’s a good thought…even better advice…just let it go. I have the bumper sticker to remind me to do it.
I’m not good at it. It’s hard for me to let it go. More often than not, I’m disinclined to just let it go. I’ve always got something to say about, well, everything.
Got a problem? Tell me about it. I’ve got some advice for you.
Need some help? I’ll help you. But I’m going to tell you what I think about it. And yeah, I’ll tell you what I think about it before I’ve fully considered all of it.
Have a cause? I’ll support it. I’ll send e-mails and post on Facebook.
Want a little sympathy? I can start a prayer chain. God bless you…I’m praying for you right now.
Know someone who needs a little tough love? Then talk to me. I’ll tell you what to do.
I’m good at all that. I’m good at talking the talk.
I just have problems walking the walk. I’d rather skip down the path of self-righteousness, scattering little blurbs of wisdom like rose petals on my way.
Can’t quite get it all together? Well, why not? I told you what to do.
I’ve got all the answers. Just ask me.
It’s easy for me to get behind a cause and spew sympathetic blather for all who are suffering, all the down-trodden, all the needy, all the misunderstood people in the world.
It’s easy…unless those misunderstood and suffering people are actually close to me.
Then it’s really hard for me to just let it go. When I see the people I love making mistakes or hurting, I’ll listen to them for a while. Then I proffer some unwanted, unneeded advice and try to go on my merry way.
That really doesn’t work. Not for the people who are hurting. It’s actually no help at all.
I’ve been practicing tough love lately and it’s making the people I truly love and care about even sadder and angrier than they were already.
What should I do? I want to help, I honestly do.
But I’m thinking that instead of talking so much…maybe I should just listen, offer my sympathy, and then let it go. No one needs my advice or my self-righteous words.
They just need me to listen. To love them. To let it go. They’ll figure it out.
So, here’s some advice for myself. I would be wise to follow it.

Breathe deep.

Love much.

Shut your damn mouth.

And Let It Go!

 

Peggy Browning
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