What are You Holding Onto?

I don’t know about you but I was raised in an environment where nothing goes to waste.  If there’s something that can be reused, repurposed, or recycled, it lived on. 

Over the years, so much of this still holds true because those are all great lessons. The difference, however, has come in what I’ve held onto and the weight I’ve let it hold. 

The Little Tree

A new friend of mine who runs a retreat center recently shared a story with me she’d read about a little tree. This little tree lived among other trees, many much larger than he was. This little tree witnessed the bigger trees shaking off their leaves as the seasons changed.  But this little tree didn’t want to lose its leaves. It held onto them so tightly. While the trees around it lost their leaves and went through barren seasons, the spring came and guess what happened? New life and leaves sprung forth.  But, the little tree had no space or ability to do the same. It just couldn’t let the old die to make way for the new. 

Maybe you’ve read this book she was referring to.  I hadn’t.  I couldn’t stop thinking about this in my own life. What am I holding onto? What are YOU holding onto?

For me, it was job titles, skills I’d acquired, abilities and capabilities.  Because I’d either learned them, paid to learn them or had given up so much to obtain them, I simply couldn’t let go of them. I didn’t want them to go to waste! I thought of every way that I could keep them alive. 

But, what I quickly realized, was that it wasn’t a matter of whether or not I could find new ways to use them, it was the fact that so much identity was wrapped up in them and I couldn’t let them go. 

Make Room For God to Move

I’m not sure what you’re holding onto right now.  Perhaps, like me, you’ve wrapped up false identity in things of the past (or maybe even the present). Friend, it’s time to burn the ships. You’re not what you did, who you knew, or the degree or job title you held. Each day you’re becoming a new creation, building upon the past, ever-growing in the present, but making way for the future. If you’re feeling led to new chapters and seasons, go there! 

Don’t grip too tightly to the old leaves.  They are part of your story and are part of what has brought you to where you are today. But today is a new day.  You’ve grown, learned, and become better because of where you were. But now it’s about getting to where you want to go next. 

There are new doors waiting to be opened.  There are new opportunities waiting to be seized.  Nothing that you’ve done is wasted, but it doesn’t have to be repurposed right now and always in season. There’s a new season coming and you’ve gotta be ready for it what it might bring. 

Go ahead and release the grip.  Whether you’ve earned it, learned it, have it, or had it, know that there’s more to your story.  It’s all been purpose-filled but it’s not the purpose of your being.  It’s part of your story being written and it doesn’t end there. Hold it all loosely and and give it the freedom to create space for the story to continue.

There’s so much more to come!