And it was time for a reminder...

Most of the times we’re very good at giving advice to other people.  Whenever someone is going trough whatever situation and can’t seem to find a solution we can stand by them and delight them with our insightful advice.

But what about those moments when I myself need to heed those advices I’ve given? What about those times when we need need need them ourselves?

This is one of those moments to me. And thankfully I have written down this advice back then.
It has already been a year ago... But it felt refreshing to re-read it and remind myself of what to do.

Here, I share it with you. Some of you might remember it and some of you might be reading it for the first time. I don’t know which one of you need it too right now... But enjoy!

Just Open Your Hands
By Saidiri Sling

There she stood. The five year old girl holding tightly to her favorite doll which had, just a while ago, lost an arm. She cried her lungs out. “Pleeeeeeaaasseee  fix it mama, please fix dollie’s arm!!! Mom, can you fix it? Please don’t let her die”

My mother, a professional doctor from the intensive care department, was trying with all her strength to repair my broken doll. But to no avail!!! Not because the doll was broken beyond repair, but I was making this impossible….because I wouldn’t let her go.

Well, letting go sure is hard, isn’t it? I know! Been there more than I ever wished. But life has taught me that sometimes letting go is quite necessary.
There are times when we need to let go of situations, and other times when need to let go of circumstances, we sometimes need to let go of our comfort zones…and sometimes we even need to let go of things we like and of people who own a very special place in our hearts.

But it is only when we let go that we can free our hands, so that we can open them to receive other things life has in store for us. And no, letting go does not mean by any chance that we give up on something or on someone. It means that we love enough to give freedom. It means that I care enough about myself to give myself the greater chance.

And don’t get me wrong….I do not have the “letting go” all under control. But, let’s be honest, sometimes we hold on way too tight to certain things in life for no logical reason at all. At that moment  we sit down and reflect about the reasons we held on so hard, we might just come to the conclusions that our reasons are totally insane.
For instance, I could have gone year after year playing with my armless doll…just out of fear of the uncertain. What might, or might NOT happen if I just let her go.
 Well, dollie might just have never gotten the chance to be whole again… would she?

So I once asked myself this one question, if one day…24 hours, we were given the total assurance that nothing will go wrong if we’d just open our hands…what would we let go of on a day like that?

You see, in the cycle of life it is required that things have to be let go. Otherwise life would have lost its excitement. Do you imagine if a tree decided it’ll clutch tightly to every bird that seeks a temporary home in it and never again let them go? …when seasons come and go, my friends, those birds shall surely die.
In this same way we often kill when we refuse to let go. No, we might not kill little birds. But we kill greater opportunities, we kill progress, we kill new chances, we kill growth, hopes and sometimes also relationships. Yes, sometimes we clutch them way too tight…and they’ll go limp and die.
Do not be afraid to let go, everything will be just fine. I know that from experience.

Of course, there are things in life that are totally worth holding on to. But love them enough to occasionally allow them to be repaired. Love yourself enough to allow yourself much greater chances.

So, what is that you have so tightly in your hands? What are you clutching to?

I , for example, have been holding on for a long time to my stage fright. Prohibiting myself from ever doing anything, but sitting in the audience. Yes, I would choose a thousand times to trade places with one of you; I’d sit in the audience and cheer rather than standing on stage.
But I realized I had two options. I could forever keep on holding to my uncertainties, hold on to what people might have said someday, hold on to my own thoughts…hold on to THIS broken doll in my life.
Or, I could decide to just open my hands, take the risk…and let it go.

I leave it to you to conclude which of the two options I chose.

And thereafter,…decide what you’re going to do about it.