Let Go or be Dragged is one of my favorite sayings, and I hope you understand why once you finish reading my blog.
I was at my sister’s house a few years ago and walked past her fridge and just stopped in my tracks. She had a magnet that said Let Go or Be Dragged. I stood there and read it again and again because it was so powerful to me. I was at a point in my life when I was overwhelmed: stressed out at my job teaching, dealing with pain-in-the-neck colleagues, and trying to find the time to care for my sick mother. It was just a lot of stuff. But when I read that quote, I immediately owned it. I was no longer willing to be dragged. I went from a 12-month contract to a 9-month contract. I dealt with my colleagues primarily via email instead of face-to-face meetings—I was department chair, so I could do this. And the rest of the time, I focused on my mother and my Self.
There’s so much power in letting go.
I was talking to a girlfriend the other day about retiring, but she feels that she will be quitting and letting her colleagues down. Mind you, this is a close friend who is financially stable and has already retired from the U.S. Army. However, she’s fallen into the “I-shouldn’t-really-retire-until-I’m-65” mentality. In the meantime, she dislikes her job immensely, doesn’t have any time for self, and complains every chance she gets. She’s being dragged….
My mother passed away 11 years ago this January, and I miss her every day. She had dementia, and while the last few years of her life were challenging, the majority of her life was fabulous. I come from a family of 8 children, and each one of us was there with her during her last few days and hours on this earth. I just knew one of us would be present when she took her last breath. But that was not her wish. She found a window of opportunity and passed away when none of her children were present. That was her gift to us. She was tired of being dragged, so she let go….
In all three of these cases, each person made a choice.
If you find yourself in a situation where you think you don’t have a choice, think again. Most times we do. Letting Go is literally the last lesson I learned from my mother. We do not have control over everything, but we do have control over a lot of things.
Next time you have a choice of letting go or being dragged, consider letting go. You owe it to yourself………………
~ Stacey