Letting it go

Posted by:
Jill Shah (16)
SS Junior College, Navi Mumbai

How many of us are ready to forget our past mistakes and failures? How many of us are actually willing to ‘let it go’?  Many a times, we face ups and downs. We fall down, get back up and give it another shot. But sometimes, it’s just not meant to be. Maybe it isn’t in your stars. What do we actually do when we don’t get what we wanted?

Blame people? Curse circumstances? Cry it out? These might give us temporary solutions. In the end, we just have long-lasting regret haunting us. ‘Maybe if I had studied more, I would have got better marks and a better college.’ ‘Maybe if I had tried harder, I would have cracked that exam.’ ‘Maybe if I had told the truth, she wouldn’t have left me.’ Life is filled with so many ‘maybes’. But are they really worth our remorse? Are they really significant in deciding the person we are today? I don’t think so. I believe that we are what we are today because of our past mistakes. I don’t think anyone should go back in time to correct their mistakes because that would just change the definition of who they are. Making mistakes is human. Realizing and rectifying them is justified. But wishing that they never happened and clinging to them? Not worth it. We must learn to move on. Let the past go and only hold the lessons. Are we ready to let go of that rope?

[perfectpullquote align=”right” color=”#d3d9ce” class=”rblog” ]Making mistakes is human. Realizing and rectifying them is justified. But wishing that they never happened and clinging to them? Not worth it.[/perfectpullquote]

I once read this beautiful story: A man who wanted to climb the highest mountain in the world. After many years of preparation, he decided to give it a go. Because he wanted to achieve that feat alone, he decided to venture alone.

It was a cold, dark and stormy night. There was snow all around. He couldn’t see anything around him. He should have taken a halt, but he kept climbing.

Suddenly his foot slipped and he lost control. He started falling at a great speed. In those moments of great fear, it reminded him of the good and bad things that happened to him in his life.

He was now thinking how close his death was; all of a sudden he felt a hard pull on the rope tied to his waist.

His body was now hanging with only the support of the rope. There was darkness all around. He cried and screamed, “God, help me!”

A voice answered, “What do you want me to do?”

The man cried, “Save me, God!”

The voice came, “Will you do as I say?”

He cried, “Yes, anything! Please save me!”

The voice came, “Cut the rope tied to your waist.”

The man did not cut the rope but held onto it with all his might.

The next morning, when the rescue team arrived, they found the climber had frozen to death only six feet above the ground.

So how attached are you to your rope? Will you let it go?

This article has been published in the December 2016 issue of The Teenager Today.