Letting Go

Here is yet another post by an unknown author; not for lack of trying but this was something given to me by a friend in a 12 step fellowship…I could not resist posting it.  I should tattoo it on my arm!  I could write ten posts about the subject of letting go and it would not begin to reach the depth the author reached when s/he wrote the untitled article below.  

First a quick story about letting go:  at a 12 step meeting this week there was a man who approached my friend and I (it was my friend’s first meeting).  He had a cup of random children’s Lego building blocks.  He asked us to each choose one piece that we liked.  After we picked our pieces he told us to read the bumps on the block and then carry the block with us from now on.  Then any time we start to “carry something” we are powerless over we should pull out the block and read it.  My friend started to cry, it was exactly what we both needed especially her being so new.  I didn’t realize that the raised bumps on the block actually say “LEGO” and by keeping the block in my pocket I’m constantly reminded to Let-Go.  

The reason we hear so much about letting go in the 12 steps is because it is the final stage of acceptance.  When we pray the serenity prayer we ask for acceptance for the things we cannot change and the wisdom to know what we need to accept.  When we are powerless over something then obsessing on that something is self-destructive and will lead to relapse.  I look at it as feeding the bad wolf rather than the good wolf.  If I feed the good wolf by doing positive things in recovery, like letting go, then I have a better chance of making it.
As promised, here is a little more on letting go:
To let go doesn't mean to stop caring, it means that I can't do it for someone else.
To let go is not to cut myself off, it's the realization that I can't control another.
To let go is not to unable, but to allow learning from natural consequences.
To let go is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To let go is not to try to change or blame another, I can only change myself.
To let was not to care for, but to care about.
To let go is not to fix, but to be supportive.
To let go is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.
To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own outcomes.
To let go as not to be protective, it is to permit another to face reality.
To let go is not to deny but to accept.
To let go is not to nag, scold or argue, but to search out my own shortcomings and to correct them.
To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to take each day as it comes, and to cherish the moment.
To let go is not to criticize and regulate anyone, but to try to become whatever dream I can be.
To let go is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.
To let go is to feel less and to love more.

Remember to live just for today.  Bonnie J