So lately the universe has been screaming at me:

"Let Go"

I scream back

"Let go of what?"

And of course, I don't get any good answers back.  I guess the answer is to let go of all the things in your past.  Maybe it means to let go of what I found in 2011.  Maybe since Chinese New Year started January 23, 2012, and it's the year of the Dragon (my Chinese animal sign is Dragon as well), I need to let go of everything before the Chinese New Year.

I get it.  I get that I hold on to things too long.  That I hold on when I should be releasing.  Ok, maybe I like the control.  Maybe I need the control.  Maybe I need to lose the control.  After all holding on is really an illusion.  You really can't hold on to things; either they stay around without your control or they don't. Letting go of everything is really the only way to keep what's important.

But sometimes it's hard to let go of the past. To let go of the people, places and things of the past: Your grammatical history.

• The past nouns that helped define your roles.
• The past verbs that specify what you've done and what you do
• The past adjectives that give the color to who you are

Your grammatical history are merely words.  Merely labels and names we give ourselves (see the "What's In a Name" post) to help fill the void.  Letting go of those words is tough.  I don't know if I'm ready to let go of certain parts of the people, places, and things that defined who I am but may not define who I'm going to be.  It's scary.

Joseph Campbell's quote is a good signpost since it gives us a glimpse at how to move forward.

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us" - Joseph Campbell

So how do you when it is time to walk away? Time to let go.  Sugar Ray Leonard said that it's time to let go when a man "doesn't have the same passion and commitment" that he used to.  That's when it's not just a rough spot, not just a dip, but time to let go.  I think he's right.  I say "when the story no longer rings true" then it's time to let go, lose control, and see what's around the corner.



So here's the question -

"What are you willing to let go of?" and is it time to "let the past go, so the future can reveal itself?"

The answer to that question appeared to me before I finished typing those words.  Now I know what I need to let go of ... do you?



So here's the challenge -

Can you ask yourself a better question?  Not the question of "Who am I?" (which is based on "who was I"), but the better question of "Who am I willing to become?"

We always have a good answer to the question of who we are or who we were, but it's the wrong question.  A better question is where all the juice is.  A better question requires a better answer.  The better question of who will we be from now on.  Stop answering tired, old, used up questions and new answers will make themselves known.



So do the work of letting go, scream back at the universe that you have

Let go

Then be quiet, really quiet, feel the space, and listen to what comes back.  You might be surprised at what you hear.



See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale