Letting Go When the Pain of Holding On Becomes Too Much

“The art of living lies in the fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”

– Henry Havelock Ellis

The challenge, of course, is to recognize when to let go.

And there’s nothing like a little story to help us see how ludicrous it is to hold on to something that is only hurting us.

In my experience, yoga teachers often share the coolest stories. This one is about getting burned.

It goes a little like this:

There once was a boy who was struggling to let go of something not-so-good that had happened to him. So he went to a monk to talk about what was bothering him.

“I just can’t seem to let it go,” said the boy.

The monk smiled. “Yes you can.”

“How?!”

“Just let it go,” was the monk’s reply.

“I can’t!” cried the boy.

So the monk gave the boy a cup to hold. It didn’t have a handle so the boy had to hold it with both hands. Then the monk began to slowly pour hot water into the cup. The cup got hotter and hotter and the boy got more and more uncomfortable. Soon the hot water began spilling over the side of the cup into the boy’s hands. The boy finally dropped the cup. He had to; it hurt too much to hold on to. The cup smashed on the floor.

The monk smiled. “So…did it feel better to hold on or to let go?”

The boy smiled back; the lesson learned.

How about you?

Are you holding on to something that is no longer serving you? What would happen if you just let go?

Maryanne Pope is the author of “A Widow’s Awakening.” She also writes screenplays, playscripts & blogs. Maryanne is the CEO of Pink Gazelle Productions and Co-Founder of the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund. To receive her blog, “Weekly Words of Wisdom,” please subscribe here. And be sure to visit our PinkGazelleCards Etsy shop.