Letting Go – Day 22
A: I guess we let go of the immediate hate. There’s some residual hate there, but it’s only brought to the fore when you drive past their store. Time heals stuff, not all the wounds – it has tapered off dramatically.
JG: Do you feel stronger?
A: We’ve come through enlightened.
C: I guess knowing you’ve got that resilience – if you can deal with that, there’s not been anything else like that … At the end of the day, the important thing is the family, keeping that together, the business is just a thing.
In the follow-up after the interview, Colleen said, ‘sometimes too, if you’re not tested then you won’t really know how far you can stretch, so although these situations aren’t welcome, they do have their uses and we certainly can have an empathetic viewpoint for others.’
This interview was chosen to pinpoint the idea that letting go of physical, material things can lead you to discover that the things you own don’t define you, and to find what’s truly important to you and your well-being. Sometimes walking away can resolve a situation far more easily than fighting, and lead to even more growth through the experience. As Colleen said in her final note to me after the interview: ‘We felt fine after reliving the past (’cause it is in the past and we have better things to look forward to).’ Make way for the bright new future by letting go of the past. Great advice.
Many thanks to Colleen and Adrian for their time and their brilliant insights.
