Let it go.

Life happens. It happens whether we want it to or not. It happens if we are holding onto the past or looking ahead to the future. It happens when you are waiting for something, anything. It happens when it feels like the world should stand still. You can't stop the future from coming and you can't relive the past. The should haves, would haves, could haves of the past, may be all that you feel, but life still happens.

Nearly halfway through 2014 and I am reflecting on all the 'life' that has happened so far this year. I've experienced sadness, hurt, sorrow, fear, joy, happiness, turmoil, discomfort, excitement, and confusion. Loved ones have been through sickness and health, loved ones have passed, life lessons have been learned, memories have been made.  I've received things I didn't ask for and many things I have. Everything happened whether or not I was waiting for it, expecting it, or preparing for it.

Let. It. Go. This most definitely has been my mantra for the year.  So simple, but so powerful. I'm the kind of person that holds on. In the past these three words didn't make any sense to me. Why would I just let it go and forget about it? How can I just let go and forget about it? I hurt  too much, I feel too guilty, I feel too bad, I'm too angry, I'm too confused, etc. But I'm learning letting it go isn't that. It's permission to accept and be. Permission to move on. Permission to acknowledge all that's going on, that it makes me uncomfortable and it makes me feel, but I do not need to carry it around with me and allow it to dictate me.  Permission to live each moment of the day. To not allow yesterday's troubles to carry into today. To not allow my worries for the days ahead to fill up the day in front of me.

How much have I missed from only hearing the noise of what can't be changed or prevented?

So. I'm learning to let it go. Realizing that life happens. Cherishing each day. Feeling blessed for each moment, each gift, each memory, each experience. Filling up with the good, exhaling the bad and just letting it go.