Soar

“For we must be one thing or the other, an asset or a liability, the sinew in your wing to help you soar, or the chain to bind you to earth.” – Countee Cullen

While it may seem counter intuitive, that which we let go, releases us to soar higher than we could ever imagine. Yet we cling to inequities, as if holding tighter and owning them fiercely, we justify our position.

Often that which we despise, we become when we act and react in kind to what has been done to us or our perception of what has been done. You name it – it happens every day in dozens of ways. The guy at work who takes credit for your ideas. The car that cuts you off in traffic.  Those people who continue to get ahead who haven’t paid their “dues.”  The customer who relentlessly complains to get her way. And the list goes on. But we need not go on with it.

“Imagination allows us to escape the predictable. It enables us to reply to the common wisdom that we cannot soar by saying, ‘Just watch!’” – Bill Bradley

The tighter we cling, the less we have – a hollow “prize” that steals our energy, creativity and zest. Instead of moving ahead into the life we are built for, we dig a deeper hole in the same spot, content with being right, but stuck in a hole nevertheless.

We hold our fingers crossed behind our back when we tell ourselves to let go, so we can hang on to a small piece as to not completely give it up. However, we must completely let go to be completely released, to rise above and move forward. It is impossible to partially let go and still take flight, to soar.