Letting Go to See What’s Been There All Along

Hello friends! It is October, and for many of us, it is time to bring out sweaters and boots and put away the flip-flops and shorts. I love Autumn, but those first few days, it is hard to see the warm days end. But then that fresh cool breeze hits my face along with warmth from the sun, and the excitement begins. It is those in-between times, like spring and fall, that signal change is coming. And even though we might not want to change, nature demands it.

And so does life…

As with anything, our perspective on how we see change determines how we navigate it. We can fight and resist. We can demand that things stay the same. Or we can see opportunity for something better. Let me tell you a story….

 

 

In May of last year, we noticed our Cherry tree was infested with lice. They were eating up the leaves, and we had had this problem before, but never so bad. The tree looked awful, and finally we decided to take it down. In the past, we had tried sprays and various treatments, but the little buggers just keep coming back, and every year it gets worse.

So, my husband got his chainsaw and went to work. After it was done, we sat on the back steps, and we were struck with something that we hadn’t quite noticed when the tree was standing there. You see, our perspective had been changed. With the tree no longer there, we were more aware of the back of the garden, the wall. Suddenly, that is all you could see! And it wasn’t a pretty sight. Back in the day, this wall was a part of the original wall that encircled the town. Later, people built houses or stables into the structure. There were passageways, doors, all of which we had heard were there so long ago, but it was all covered up. Losing the Cherry tree opened our eyes to something that needed to be done. The wall had to be opened, and we had to see what was underneath. Understanding that this would be a big undertaking, we began making plans. The first thing to do was rip everything off and get to the stonework underneath.

It was laborious and took my husband the better part of two months to complete it all. There were dead ivy branches that had grown into the stones and concrete to pound open and remove.  But with persistence and a LOT of grit, he got it all stripped down to the underneath. And what did we see?

A window!

Everything inside had been filled up, and we had no idea when the last time this window had been looked through. But it is about a 200-year-old window that we were thrilled to find!

Now that the dirty work had been done, it was time to clean it all up and my husband to do what he does so well…bring back the beauty that was covered up through the years.

The Moral to the Story

Sometimes life removes something in our lives to bring about something better, more useful, and more in line with our purpose and passion. Often, there are blind spots that we just don’t see due to a person, place, or thing standing in the way. It hurt to take the tree down. It isn’t what we wanted to do. But the decision had to be made, and, in the end, it caused us to see an opportunity that we otherwise wouldn’t have acted on. At least, not just yet. Maybe in another few years, we would have eventually done this, but the circumstances pushed us to act.

Many times, we lose a job and then end up finding something much better suited to our talents and desires. A relationship falls apart, and then we meet someone that we feel we were born to be with. Life is always bringing us change, so we grow and expand who we are at our core. We are always in need of some reconstruction from time to time. We just need to be willing to do the work and have faith that in every circumstance, there is an opportunity waiting for us on the other side. An opportunity to fill our lives with more soulfulness and purpose.

If a circumstance feels “expired” in some way. It just doesn’t feel right or brings more stress than joy. Maybe it is time to just let it go. Maybe it is time to remove it so you can see a new perspective on what it is you DO need and desire in your life.