by Nazzim Hypolite
There is a story of a little girl who was given a bunny rabbit. She was so happy and delighted, and she was so afraid of losing it, that on the way home she squeezed it to death with love. Sometime we hold on so hard to something because of the fear of losing it, and unknowingly we hold on so tightly that we suffocate it. Lots of people do that to their spouses, and countless parents do that to their children.
It is essential to remember that all sensations, and many things in life are short lived. These days we’re even trying to hold on to emotional sensations such as happiness. By holding on to the idea of being happy, we turn that happiness into a pain. It’s now a job to remain happy, and you have to be happy. Yet, you are now trying to keep a feeling which we all know would not last forever, the same as everything in this world that is only here for a time — which is actually great, because the same way happiness would not last perpetually, is the same way sadness would conclude.
The world is made in such a lovely and pulchritudinous way, that you can’t hold on to anything because there is nothing to hold on to, so you better let it go, because it would not last forever. Things are always dying, growing, developing, changing and depreciating, although we still try to hold on to things that we conceive to be dear to us. Letting go does not mean that you go through the world mechanically, no… by all means, no. However, be grateful and appreciate the short times and memories, both the happy and the sad times. Live, love, laugh, cry, but always be ready to let go.
Let us consider the idea of breathing, which I believe is the perfect illustration. To breathe, you must give and receive, taking and letting go, which is to inhale and exhale. To inhale you must exhale. What you give, you would receive equally, and what you have, you must be ready to let go. This is the ripple of life. To have life and all its pleasure, you must at the same time let go. As Buddha said “You can only lose what you cling to.” Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energy moving forward together towards an answer.
