Sour Milk
by Leslie Sann
Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.
~ Raymond Lindquist
Have you ever gone through your fridge? Opened a container and found it moldy and stinky? Disgusting yourself with what you were holding onto? Shocked at seeing what you’ve held on to. I can’t toss it fast enough.
I have another pattern. It’s a pattern of making use of what I have around. I do what I can to use it. Imagine finding sour milk in the fridge. Instead of tossing it, spending hours trying to find recipes to use it. The reasoning: it is in the fridge and it would be wrong to throw food out. Folks are starving someplace on the planet. I’m a good person. We need to eat what we have, right?
Deep-seated conditioning of the mind motivates our actions. Out-dated beliefs that have nothing to do with what is good for us.
For example, you can’t quit your job. Your best friend from high school owns the company. It would be an affront to the friendship to move onto a new position. A position that is more lucrative as well as nourishing to you.
Or that painting on the wall that you dislike. It has to stay. It is an inherited heirloom. Your family would be in an uproar if they came to visit and it wasn’t there.
Or, it’s okay to live with someone who is unkind. You know yourself to be loyal. It would go against your values to divorce. Besides what would people think if you left!
Or that friend you have had for the past four decades. The one who you no longer share anything in common. Yet you insist on hanging on due to the longevity of the connection.
Some things are just past their expiration date. Time to toss. Not right, wrong, good or bad. Just what is. Moving on doesn’t take from what was good in the past. Moving on brings things to completion so something new can occur.
It serves to clean out the fridge. Mold on the food, or life, is not good for your health. Clean out what is no longer working. Make room for fresh milk, a new job, a loving relationship.
What’s in your fridge that needs to be tossed? The end of year is a good time to let go. A good time to make room for a 2020 better than you can imagine.
Happy Blessed New Year,