The Art Of Letting Go Is Not Always Easy

There comes a time in life when one learns to let go of certain dreams, friendships or lovers that at one point meant everything to us. But we know, after all, that  the important things will come back to us, perhaps with new faces and more sincere smiles.  As a breath of fresh air that can help us start all over again.

It is interesting how the  world of children’s literature can provide us with wonderful lessons in personal growth  that would be beneficial to think about a little more often. One of these examples is “The Wizard of Oz” by Frank Lyman Baum. In this unforgettable piece of literature, we meet a young girl who is sucked up by a powerful tornado and then arrives in a new and alien world.

From the moment Dorothy arrives in Oz, she can only think of one thing. And that’s coming home again.  The fear she feels to start with in this new and frightening situation is diminished little by little thanks to her new and strange friends, her silver shoes and a very concrete goal. She must find the Wizard of Oz and ask him to send her home again. To achieve this, she simply has to follow the yellow brick road.

After many adventures and misfortunes, the young girl discovers that the  power to return home in reality always existed inside her. But her fascinating journey is the key to awakening her personal strengths one by one. And she discovers the incredible courage we all have in a small part of ourselves.

Getting lost far away from our usual path is not as bad as it seems at first. Letting go of certain things, people, projects and ambitions is not the end of the world. Ultimately, it’s the steps we take and everything we learn that matter.  Only in this way can we allow what is to return to us to return as we move forward on this yellow brick path of  personal development. Or of the “Golden Path” that Buddhism speaks of.

What is to come back to us will do so at the right time and place. Meanwhile, we can practice letting go

Andrea is an engineer. She has created a sophisticated and original means of transport for pets. It fits in the back seat of a car and guarantees total safety and comfort for the animal. Every time she presents her project to a business partner, she explains that her idea can save the lives of countless animals. The animals that die in traffic accidents due to lack of protection.

So far, only one person has shown interest in Andrea’s idea. But after the first “yes,” the partner has withdrawn his interest, saying it is not a good project anyway.  But Andrea does not give up. She denies it, nor does she let her dreams come true. Andrea understands that she will have to continue working. She has told herself that she may have to look for cheaper but equally safe materials. Or look for new markets, present the idea abroad, etc.

She knows that the opportunities will arise again, but that they will do so when the right time and place comes.  She is absolutely sure that more people and organizations will be interested in her project. Therefore, she continues to invest time, ideas and effort in the project every single day. The most likely scenario is that this young engineer will succeed sooner or later. For as the philosopher Jose Antonio Marina says, talent is acting intelligence. Even though we sometimes think that everything is lost, the yellow brick road is always right there, in front of us . 

To lose, to have a negative answer, to fall, to stumble three times over the same rock or even to fall in love with the most inappropriate person in the whole world has a purpose: to learn something. All these gaps in the road mean that we need to improve our strength in life.  After the storm comes the  calm and the need to create personal goals that are more beautiful, proud, strong and most of all resilient.

Sooner or later, the opportunities will arise again, and when they do, we will be totally prepared.

After we let go, everything that comes back will do it in a different way

The stars are so far away from us that even the light from those closest to us is several years away from reaching our planet. Sometimes we forget that  there are nights where we enjoy pointing them out one by one. But we forget that many of them no longer exist. They exploded a long time ago and were transformed into star dust in the cosmic vacuum.

We know very well that not everything that comes back is authentic. Like the light from the stars. Sometimes we lose love and wait for a better, brighter, more passionate and romantic love.  Other times, we let the opportunities slip away from us. We are waiting for the same luck to come again as soon as possible. But none of this is going to happen as fast as we hope or in the way we dream of.

We need to be patient and remember that things will definitely return, but always in a different way.  Maybe love will return, but in a more calm and enriching way. Or there will be a new opportunity that does not catch the eye in the same way, but which contains several benefits. It is the gift of being able to let go.

It’s all about being receptive and wearing the same silver shoes that Dorothy wore in The Wizard of Oz. Although the shoes were red in the movies, the book’s author, Lyman Frank Baum, imagined silver shoes for a very specific reason.

Dorothy’s shoes represented the “silver thread” in spiritual growth. This is the thread that helps us gain a clearer view of things and of our own identity in order to attain wisdom. To understand that life is a journey where things disappear and are found again. Nothing lasts forever, and some things need to be let go. A lt that comes our way is a gift that we must learn to make the most of.