Episode #80 Let It Go

Three Problems

• If half of our vision is in the rearview mirror, only half of our vision remains to focus on the present and future.
• “What if?” does little to help what is, and it is often even unhelpful.
• Failure to let it go enhances distraction, discouragement, and disappointment in our lives.

Three Principles

• Regret should be fuel for change in the future, not something that keeps us stuck in the past.
• We cannot force someone else to apologize or to forgive, so it is time to let it go when we have already done everything that we can do.
• Our pasts shape us but do not define us.

Three Paradigms

• We cannot change the past, but we can always change the present and the future.
• We cannot control whether a thought enters our minds, but we can always control how long it stays there.
• We cannot choose whether we are hurt by others, but we can always choose whether we take steps toward healing.

Three Practices

• Take the time to grieve, but give yourself a grieving deadline after which point it is time to let it go.
• Ask yourself, “Is there anything in my life that I simply need to let go?”
• Forgive someone in your heart even if they have never apologized.