Letting go.

Lately, (and most recently this week) I've been struggling with something that I've never liked, or been good at, and that's letting go of things. This time it happens to be a friend, but for me it can be anything from an old pair of shoes, to something in the fridge that gets me all frazzled.

Thinking about my personality, I have a vague idea of why it's so difficult for me. I'm the type of person who never accepts defeat. By giving up on something --that friend, those shoes, or the questionable spaghetti sauce-- I feel like I've failed somehow. So, I keep trying to make it work. I tell myself that I'll make more of an effort to keep the friendship going, to wear the shoes, or to eat the sauce. But will I do those things? No. I always know I wont. But the optimism of telling myself it will work, always feels better than admitting something isn't working, and letting it go.

Luckily I have people in my life to help shake some sense (some realism) into my head, and tell me the person isn't the type of friend I need, the shoes are dirty and falling apart, and the sauce is getting moldy (all of which have happened). Otherwise I'm sure I would end up with a lot of nasty physical and emotional baggage. 

It's a new goal of mine, to asses things in my life more carefully, and more honestly. Do I really need it? Is it making my life better, or more enjoyable, or the opposite? I don't think it's going to be easy, but I'm going to try. 

This is a little poem that helps to give me peace of mind!

A Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or
a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you
will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON . . . It is
usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have
come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you
with guidance and support, to aid you physically,
emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a
godsend, and they are! They are there for the reason
you need them to be.

Then, without any wrong doing on your part, or at an
inconvenient time, this person will say or do something
to bring the relationship to an end.

Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.

What we must realise is that our need has been met, our
desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you
sent up has been answered. And now it is time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON . . .
Because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount
of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things
you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional
foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the
person, and put what you have learned to use in all
other relationships and areas of your life. It is said
that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Author Unknown