This poem sums up ‘letting go lessons’ that I’ve learned over the years. I’m sure though, that my time of lesson learning is not behind me…I still have some ways to go yet.

To ‘let go” does not mean to stop caring;
it means to accept that I can’t do it for someone else.
To ‘let go” is not to cut myself off;
it is the realization I can’t control another.
To ‘let go” is not to enable,
but to allow learning from the natural consequences of the choices we make.
To ‘let go” is to acknowledge that which I cannot change and
to pursue that which I can.
To ‘let go” is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is out of my hands.
To ‘let go” is not to try to change or blame another;
it is to make the most of myself.
To ‘let go” is not to care for but to care about.
To ‘let go” is not to fix but to be supportive.
To ‘let go” is not to judge
but to allow another to be a human being.
To ‘let go” is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes
but to allow other to effect their own destinies.
To ‘let go” is not to be protective;
it is to permit another to face reality.
To ‘let go” is not to deny but to accept.
To ‘let go” is not to nag, scold or argue,
but instead to search out my own shortcomings and to correct them.
To ‘let go” is not to adjust everything to my own desires
but to take each day as it comes and to cherish myself in it.
To ‘let go” is not to criticize and regulate anybody
but to try to become what I dream I can be.
To ‘let go” is not regret the past nor fear the future
but to grow and live in the present.
To ‘let go” is to forgive, not to condone.
To ‘let go” is to free myself of my collection of past hurts and resentments.
To ‘let go” is to fear less and to love more.

Anonymous