"It's time to let go," says Dori the fish with short term memory loss to her friend Marlin, a clown fish. Marlin and Dori are looking for Nemo, Marlin's son, in the movie "Finding Nemo". The fish are hanging on to a whale's tongue and the whale wants them to let go and slide down his throat. Dori trusts the whale and Nemo is sure they will be eaten. Would you be more likely to hang on or let go?
"It's time to let go," says Dori. "How do you know something bad's not going to happen?" shouts Nemo. "I don't know," Dori calmly replies. They let go and are propelled from the whales blow hole into freedom.
Marlin starts his journey to find Nemo with absolute fear and with each challenge overcome, he learns to trust. I have had, just as everyone has had, many challenges. I have overcome as many challenges as I have had but I still hang on and often refuse to trust.
Watching the movie, and particularly Marlin, I realized how much harder things are when I don't let go. Letting go usually means letting go of my expectations for a specific outcomes, letting go of my feeling of entitlement and letting go of my need for approval. Even though these are thoughts, they require a physical action just like releasing your grip from a whale's tongue.
Today my son is sick and my carefully made plans are changing. I find myself holding on to my already outdated expectations, feeling defensive that I am not getting what I want and worrying about the reactions of the people in my schedule. What if I stopped struggling ...right now... and let go? Maybe new possibilities will emerge and my day will go perfectly after all.
Whether it's a whale's tongue, a "to do" list, a grudge, or a personal belief that no longer serves you ...can you let go of what you are hanging on to? Open your hand and spread your fingers wide and say, "Let go." Trust. If you feel like you want back whatever you have released, it will probably stick around for you ...but I'll bet we both find what is on the other side of letting go much better and won't even think about looking back.
