Letting Go

There is an amazing book by Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, that has changed my life.  I have read her daily meditations for codependents again and again through the years, and they still seem to be written just for me.  I didn't quite understand the term, codependent, until I read her July 2nd entry:

"Others do not know what's best for us.  We do not know what's best for others.  It is our job to determine what's best for ourselves.  Giving advice, making decisions for others, mapping out their strategy, is not our job nor is it their job to direct us."  Powerful words!  Freeing words!   In a nutshell, I hear her saying that I don't need to waste my energy trying to control the people in my life, and I have no obligation to those who try to control (rescue) me.

It takes a lifetime of diligence (and mistakes) to let go of deeply ingrained negative perceptions and habits.  I try and fail and try again.  Beattie's book reminds me to keep trying despite insecurities and set-backs.

As a young woman in my twenties, I thought I'd be a grown-up by now.  But I'm still learning and growing up every day.  The Language of Letting Go has helped me realize that this journey called "life" won't be finished until I draw my last breath.  I wouldn't want it any other way.