Are You Holding On For Dear Life

For the life of me I could not understand why or how it was still holding on.  The first time I noticed it, I was in awe.  It was the only one of its kind and it was tenuously hanging in there, clinging on with all its might.

The second time I noticed it a week later I felt even more incredulous.  How could this be? How was this feat possible?  By the third week I was convinced that it was downright freaky!  This was not normal, something was wrong.

It was late March 2015, the winter had not been as extreme as in previous years and yet we had experienced snow, storms and even a hurricane that March.  It had been an extremely dry winter with little rain and snow and by all accounts this was unusual.  It was on my bi-weekly walks through the forest that I noticed it, holding on for dear life.

I am talking about the lone leaf on a young oak tree.  As the seasons had changed from Summer to Autumn and then Winter the trees of the forest had shed most of their foliage as had this young oak tree and yet there was one leaf, YES ONE!, holding on for dear life.

Why I say this is freaky, that at the end of winter this lone leaf had not followed its companions and fallen to the ground, is that it was dead!  Yes dead.  The leaf was dry, and shrivelled yet the stem had not yet detached from the tree and fallen.  It did not seem to want to accept its fate, to fall to the ground to prepare the way for new life.

I was reminded how we as humans display the same behaviour as this oak leaf and how we hold on for dear life.  Please do not mistake what I am saying and think that we should not be persistent or tenacious and press on through difficult circumstances.  This is not what I am talking about.

As wise King Solomon noted:

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Sometimes we are just too stupid to realise that the seasons of our lives are changing.  Or perhaps we do realise this and refuse to accept what is occurring to allow the natural flow of life.

So if like this leaf you are holding on for dear life, and that which you are holding onto is dead – I encourage you to let it go.

This is NOT easy and I am the first to admit that, but perhaps these few tips will help.

Remain aware and conscious

We need to remain aware of the seasons of our lives.  This is done by living consciously and with intent.  Conscious living means that we remain connected to ourselves, that we know who we are and what we value.  If you feel unaware in your life then I encourage you to perhaps start finding out what your values are, this is a good place to start.

Let go of resistance

Whether we like it or not, change is inevitable.  If you are like me perhaps one of the biggest barriers you erect to change is resistance.  I know that the more I resist something the more it persists, so when I let go of my resistance I can actually move forward.

Go with the flow

So you’ve let go of your resistance, and it will help if you go with the flow.  You see sometimes we try desperately to control the outcome or force it in a certain way, and I do believe that we create our own reality, but allow yourself more being and less doing.  Get into YOUR flow, and stop fighting so desperately against the seasons of your life.

Make powerful choices

Absolutely everything in life boils down to the choices we make.  Our experience of any season is how we choose to experience it.  I do not believe that we will be skipping through the daisies when we are experiencing famine or war or death and yet how we choose to move through those seasons will ultimately determine the reality we experience.  Be encouraged to create energetic alliances with the emotions you wish to experience, regardless of the season.

So the question is, can we stop holding on for dear life or can we learn to let go and get into our flow?

When something is dead, be it a job, a relationship, an emotion, a thought process, a health issue – clinging onto the dead carcass of the situation will only bring about our own decay.  So let go, allow the season to change, allow what is new and waiting in the wings to come through.

There really is a season for everything!