Letting Go and Waiting

I posted 2 status updates on my Facebook this week.

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." ~Audrey Hepburn

and

“To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go” ~Mary Oliver

I have been contemplating these 2 quotes this morning.

Audrey was noting at the time of her quote, the best is to hold on, but Mary obviously had some experience in knowing that the letting go is critical as well.

I have spent some amount of time in my life doing both of these activities, and I guess, my thought is that I like the "holding on" better than the "letting go"....

But, sometimes the holding on isn't working and one must get about the business of letting go.

I called my minister friend today. I asked if she performed exorcisms (just kidding her), but seriously, I wanted a way to make the letting go move a bit quicker - maybe an action list detailing out the steps and the timeline involved in successfully letting go once and for all.

Are you surprised? She didn't have any such product to pull out of her desk drawer, but she gave me her time and her ear and that was what I needed today... at that precise moment.

She said the answer was probably time.

Last weekend I watched a movie where the theme was "waiting". Sunday at church the sermon was about "waiting".

As time goes by, whether we are actively living our lives or not, there is some amount of waiting going on.... as I said, regardless.

I don't much like waiting.

Waiting in lines, waiting for payday, waiting for dinner, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, waiting on a phone call, waiting on a promotion, waiting for my ship to come in, waiting for hours, waiting all day, waiting in the waiting room, waiting for you, waiting for him, waiting for vacation, waiting for the drill to stop inside my mouth, waiting for the mail.......

There is a lot of waiting.

How much waiting is involved in letting go?

Or is letting go an active activity?

We can do something while we wait. We can waste time while we wait. We can sleep a lot while we wait, or drink a lot, or eat a lot, or spend a lot......

Or, we could give a lot, learn a lot, love a lot..... while we wait..... for the letting go to be complete.

Once we let go, is it over?

Can we get up after the waiting and after the letting go, and move on to holding on to something/one else? Will we be escorted to the door with our belongings and told it is time to go.... now?

Or can we move on while we wait and while we let go?

Perhaps, we do it all at once. As my friend said this morning, live from your brain and intellect today, reminding yourself of your choices and one day, perhaps, the heart and soul will catch up and the letting go will be better... or done.....

So, I am waiting, while I let go, while I move on......

Namaste