The art of Letting Go is something I attempt to do daily – and mostly fail, but sure I’m still in my thirties (just). I was windsurfing at the weekend with my husband, who is super duper. I’m not quite so super but I do enjoy windsurfing, now and again. It was windy and wavy, and I clung onto the boom (which encircles the sail) with a vice like grip. Now this isn’t how one is supposed to windsurf. NO, one is supposed to relax, smile, let one’s body weight rest fully in the harness – ropes hanging in a loop from the boom – and sail into the sunset.
Not me. Panting and heaving, I wobbled across the bay and arrived to Oisín, who was patiently waiting on the other side. Trying to be positive, I said: ‘Didn’t I do really well?’
Now, Oisín’s parents are Dutch and he didn’t inherit the Irish gene of lying to be polite so he answered:
“You’re sailing with the breaks on, making it much more difficult and tiring for yourself. You’ve got to LET GO.”
I slumped on the board in a heap. “But if I let go, I won’t be in control anymore and I don’t know what will happen – it’s scary.” I then got stuck in rocks and seaweed (my absolute nightmare) and cried like a six year old.
It dawned on me during this miserable episode that my windsurfing is an exact reflection of my life – I continually have the breaks on and I am SICK of it.
So this week, once again, I am focusing on LETTING GO of work, writing, relationships and mostly outcomes (a handy tool to help me is ‘The Language of Letting Go’ by Melodie Beatie).
Please wish me luck – and good luck to anyone else who is trying to do the same.
