What Are You Leaving Behind?
I love watching the seasons change. In nature. In my menstrual cycle. In my life.
No season is better or worse than any other. They are different. Each is essential.
And with each one, there is a chance to get rid of things that no longer serve us in this moment.
As Shauna Niequist said,
“This is, I realize, middle age. But here’s the thing: every new season of life is an invitation to leave behind the things of the season before, the trappings and traps that have long expired, right for then, no longer right for now.
Whatever passage you’re facing—entering your twenties or your sixties, facing life alone for the first time in a long time or learning the new dance of partnership, becoming a parent or becoming an empty nester, leaving student life behind or becoming a student once again—has the potential to be your sea-change, your invitation to leave behind what’s not essential and travel deeply into the heart of things.
This is a pattern we can recreate all our lives, over and over, because who’s ever totally finished leaving things behind?”
What I’m leaving behind (or at least working on) in this season is the need to please everyone.
I’d like to say I have this figured out. But I don’t.
I still compare myself. I’m afraid of letting people down. And I want people to like me.
But I’m learning to not give as many fucks.
So tell me – what are you leaving behind?