Letting Go

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.                                        Proverbs 3:5-6 (The Message)

I recently saw a client who is going through the period of her life where she is in the “letting go” stage. That is the period of life when we are launching our late teen/ early adult age children, and at the same time letting go of aging parents. This is a hard period of life. Loss seems to be all around, and we need to find ways to reinvent our lives for a new stage.

I talked with the client about recognizing that this is a time when we are more acutely aware of the sense of loss of control. Our children are going off and making career and relational decisions that are exciting for them but maybe a bit scary to us as parents. Losing aging parents to declining health, or death, brings us to a more acute awareness of our own mortality. We are the next generation that is going to pass away. How do I redeem that remaining time so it is meaningful and impactful?

I suggested that our mindset is critical to this period in our life. If we can see that we are “letting go” vs. having things “taken away”, we will feel much more control of our emotions and our ability to accept change.

For my readers who are experiencing this stage, know that God is in control and we are not. Accepting that we are in a position that feels so precarious and unpredictable is hard, but it is for our ultimate good. It is growth which produces wisdom, and finally peace that passes all understanding.

Prayer: Lord, you are in control of our life, and of those that we love. We trust your care, Amen