Day 4: Letting go

Sortie. It's French for "exit"--as in the exit sign on a door. It also makes me think of goodbyes or letting go of things. In my journal today, I wrote about the things I need to let go of. Seems fitting as the year comes to a close. I have a list:

• Bad memories
• Things that are not in my control
• Relationships gone sour
• Negative thoughts
• 2011 earnings, which weren't that great

Let it go. All of it. Start over. I'm the queen of do-overs, after all. And every year, it seems I can start fresh so easily...as if yesterday didn't affect me at all.

And yet, I believe the past isn't necessarily meant to be let go of completely. We still have lessons to learn from the past. In fact, I'm reading about this very same thing in a book called The Power of Your Past: The Art of Recalling Reclaiming and Recasting by John P. Schuster, who writes, "When we recall our memories with curiosity, we can think in new ways about them, and can begin to dismantle our habituated views of who we are and aren't, resetting the specifications of our lives."

In fact, Schuster goes on to write that without intimate knowledge (and appreciation, I think) of our core selves, we cannot create our life's core work. This is exactly what I've come to learn from the B.I.K.E. I think I've found a kindred spirit in this leadership coach and will continue to look for that balance of what can take its place at the sortie and what I will continue to embrace for its value yet to be revealed.

What are your thoughts about letting go?