Reconnecting to The Power of Letting Go
As I reconnected to this post that I originally wrote on June 23, 2023 after my car window got shattered, I decided to share it again as a reminder of the fragility of life and how things can change so fast from what we perceive as good to what we perceive as bad. Life has a way of delivering both of these things whether we want them or not. "Shattering" -- in whatever form it takes is not a pleasant thing to experience or to talk about -- but it happens to us and to people we know and to people we don't know all across the world on a daily basis.
My car window was unexpectedly shattered, ironically by the post and platform that my late husband, John, had built to allow a robin to keep her nest after she built it on his ladder. She went on to have 2 babies in that nest, and then for the following 3 years both robins and doves used it 6 more times to bring forth life! This same post that supported new life and brought me so much joy, ended up bringing havoc to my car window and my life! I had to clean out the glass, contact the insurance company, wait for a week until they could find a replacement glass, and put plastic on it, because although it hadn't rained in a month, it poured the whole next day!! I never park my car in that spot, but I was selling John's fishing boat and had to leave my car out of the garage while I got it all cleaned out and ready. With the emotion of selling the boat AND the shattering of the window, I spiraled backward into grief mode even though I thought I was doing so well moving forward! Once you get shattered, you are never the same. You don't forget your shattering, but you do start realizing how precious life is because of it, and that is what helps you to move forward! You clean up the shattered pieces the best you can, you put plastic up for awhile if you need to, and after you cry a lot you actually can start to see more clearly and your perspective changes. This opens the way for someone to come along to help you put in a new window and get rolling through life again! The new window will never be the same as the old one, but it is solid and it allows us to be grateful to have another go at life in a new way with a new vision and with a whole lot more understanding of the things in life that are really important that we should never take for granted!
I keep finding that there are gifts waiting for each of us even when things are challenging. As I cleaned out John's boat and physically and consciously let go of all the things that went with it that were connected to so many memories of John and our family, I found an amazing gift! In one of the compartments there was a little broken piece of a pine tree that looked like deer antlers, AND it still had a pine smell after three years!! This one little tiny and also broken thing brought joy and happy memories rushing into my heart and soul!! In the letting go -- I received!!
The little pine branch and shattered car window taught me 2 huge lessons that I will not forget! I will not take any moments for granted, and I will be grateful every day for everything I receive — the "good" and the "bad" —because it ALL leads me to become the best version of me that I can be! It has taught me to be a more understanding, compassionate, and loving human Be-ing to all who are undergoing their own shatterings and challenges. We are all here to help each other so that none of us have to deal with the "broken glass" of life alone — and when the time is right to help someone install a "new window" to get back on the road of life!!