A few years ago we bought some river property with another family and were experiencing our first taste of river life. It came pretty natural to all of us except Bella, our chocolate lab. She loved going out in the boat with us, but would jump at the sight of any animal she saw on the riverbanks. If you’ve ever spent time on the New River, you know there is quite a bit of wildlife so this was happening often and a little stressful when she would chase a deer on to the arsenal property where we could not follow! Now I would like to defend her by saying she was only two years old at the time and still just a big puppy, but my husband would challenge that by saying she was (and still is!) spoiled rotten and refused to listen!
But regardless, one afternoon my daughter had friends to the river. They had been dropped up river and were tubing to our land. We had plans to grill out when they made it back, but we had everything ready so we decided to take a quick boat ride. I wanted to take Bella (my husband did not), but he agreed as long as we tied her to a long rope and I would be in charge of pulling her back off the side of the boat whenever she got too close. Without going into all the gory details, she jumped, and I was not prepared. I panicked and held onto that rope in shock and pure terror imagining my sweet baby drowning under the boat or maimed by the motor. In the meantime, my husband is screaming at me to LET GO as the rope had flown behind me because of the speed we were traveling and had my husband across the throat.
When we tell the story now, I always tease him that I let him live that day, but the truth is, I was terrified. My natural instinct was to hold on no matter the pain and even though I saw the rope around his neck, it took him screaming at me to actually release the rope. To make a long story short, Bella was fine. She came up from the water and Todd pulled her into the boat and she was wagging her tail like it was the most fun she’d had all day! Todd had a rope burn across his throat and was quite upset with me for my stupidity, that is until he saw my hands. My hands were ripped to shreds and I was in shock. He quickly got us back to our house and got out the medical kit and started working on the burns. He kept quietly asking, “why didn’t you let go?”
The truth is I don’t know. I don’t know why I didn’t automatically let go of the rope that day and I don’t know why I have trouble letting go in other situations as well, even when they are painful. Why do we hold on to things that are no longer good for us or no longer useful? Is it the fear of the unknown or wanting to be in our comfort zone? Is it sentimental reasons or because we still have hope the situation will change? Or is it like that day on the boat, it’s just a natural instinct? Whatever the reason, I do believe that learning to let go when the time is right, or even just to let be, brings about a sense of peace in a sometimes chaotic world. I'm finding that letting go frees up space for better and healthier things. We cannot appreciate the joys of today when we don’t let go of the mistakes of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow. And I can tell you from experience, it IS more painful to hold on than to just LET GO! xo
But regardless, one afternoon my daughter had friends to the river. They had been dropped up river and were tubing to our land. We had plans to grill out when they made it back, but we had everything ready so we decided to take a quick boat ride. I wanted to take Bella (my husband did not), but he agreed as long as we tied her to a long rope and I would be in charge of pulling her back off the side of the boat whenever she got too close. Without going into all the gory details, she jumped, and I was not prepared. I panicked and held onto that rope in shock and pure terror imagining my sweet baby drowning under the boat or maimed by the motor. In the meantime, my husband is screaming at me to LET GO as the rope had flown behind me because of the speed we were traveling and had my husband across the throat.
When we tell the story now, I always tease him that I let him live that day, but the truth is, I was terrified. My natural instinct was to hold on no matter the pain and even though I saw the rope around his neck, it took him screaming at me to actually release the rope. To make a long story short, Bella was fine. She came up from the water and Todd pulled her into the boat and she was wagging her tail like it was the most fun she’d had all day! Todd had a rope burn across his throat and was quite upset with me for my stupidity, that is until he saw my hands. My hands were ripped to shreds and I was in shock. He quickly got us back to our house and got out the medical kit and started working on the burns. He kept quietly asking, “why didn’t you let go?”
The truth is I don’t know. I don’t know why I didn’t automatically let go of the rope that day and I don’t know why I have trouble letting go in other situations as well, even when they are painful. Why do we hold on to things that are no longer good for us or no longer useful? Is it the fear of the unknown or wanting to be in our comfort zone? Is it sentimental reasons or because we still have hope the situation will change? Or is it like that day on the boat, it’s just a natural instinct? Whatever the reason, I do believe that learning to let go when the time is right, or even just to let be, brings about a sense of peace in a sometimes chaotic world. I'm finding that letting go frees up space for better and healthier things. We cannot appreciate the joys of today when we don’t let go of the mistakes of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow. And I can tell you from experience, it IS more painful to hold on than to just LET GO! xo
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