There may be times when we need to hold on and hold on for dear life. But there are also times when we need to let go in order that life can resume and carry on.
Some of us have held on tightly to marriages that have bloomed, blossomed, and then died; and we don’t know what to do – there is a time to hold on – and there is a time to let go.
Some of us have held on tightly to jobs that have demanded and confiscated all the time and energy we could muster, and crushed our spirits and brought us to the brink of depression and despair – and there is a time to hold on – and a there is a time to let go.
Some of us have held on tightly to beliefs and convictions that haven’t made much sense – in fact, they have been dissonant and distancing and destructive; and we’re perpetually caught in the throes of indecision – there is a time to hold on – and there is a time to let go.
Some of us have held on tightly to the illusion of youthfulness and have pushed ourselves physically beyond our limits to the point where we’ve broken under the stress – there is a time to hold on – and there is a time to let go.
Some of us are envious and jealous. We compare and contrast, we contrast and compare; we evaluate, evaluate, evaluate – ourselves as well as others. Life is a giant report card of percentages and percentiles. There is a time to hold on – and there is a time to let go.
Some of us are obsessed with the particulars in life. We’ve locked on to some things and seem unable to let them go because they’ve become part of us and even partly define us. There is a time to hold on – and there is a time to let go.
Some of us are locked on the ladder of life; we’re permanent residents of the rung to which we cling; we move neither up nor down, right nor left; life and others pass us by as we stay put, stuck on a rung, impeding the movement of others, even discouraging them as they do what we don’t – there is a time to hold on – and there is a time to let go.
For most of us, the problem is not that we are holding on to too little, but that we are holding on too much, too, too much. The consequence of letting go is freedom.
Only you can know in your heart of hearts whether now is a time to hold on some more again, or a time to let go. There is a time to hold on… and if this is your time to hold on, let me wish you well and good strength for the holding on. But if this is your time to let go, let me urge you to let yourself let go.
There is a time to hold on, and there is a time to let go!
May you be granted the wisdom to know the difference and to do the wise thing for you today.
With much affection,
Rabbi Sally
