the liberating relinquishment

I woke up super early again this morning (though not quite as early as I wanted), and it was lovely.
Today was a very, very lovely day. I am tired now, but I wanted to say this:

Over the past week, I have found that my days have become increasingly lovely.
And not simply based on circumstance or environment, either. (Though those have been very lovely too!)
Allow me to explain:
I gave up a lot of things in my life that before, I thought that I couldn't live without. And it's freeing in a rather strange sort of way.

The older post I wrote, "on letting go" was the beginning. The first step.
This, now, is the realization of that post. I am now actually living out what I suggested then. And it's incredible.
Because when I wrote that previous post, I said that I needed to let things go, but now, I actually have.

First, I gave up my (once) best friend. At first I thought that I couldn't possibly do this. Which, it turns out, was exactly my problem. If you are unwilling to let someone go, this probably means that they have an unhealthy hold on your heart. And sadly, he sure did. But no longer.

Next, I gave up facebook. Not that I had a particular issue with it in the first place, but I spent too much time on it and it was too tempting for me to "stalk" people instead of genuinely investing time in them.

As of now, I have gone 6 whole days without logging onto facebook! Yes! I know!
That seems like nothing... unless you are an addict who logs on 15 times a day, like I did.

Also, my friend Eric is fasting from music for lent. Which is pretty intense.
But I admire him for it. Music can be overwhelming and dangerous, and one should be willing to cut it out for a time in order to focus on what is important.

Now you see, most of these things that we are asked to give up are not bad at all! In fact, I truly believe that things like friends and the internet and facebook and TV and music have made my life a whole lot better.

But, the essential questions is: can you live without these things? Can you give them up to pursue something better?

I try to think about this really deeply:

Everything I come across in this world is so temporary.
Even my heart, the very organ that allows me to live, and my lungs, what allow me to breathe each breath, are temporary.
And so, what if they went away?
Well, then I would be dead.

But there are still parts of me that would go on. I would still have a soul. There would still be a God, and the things in my life that I did out of love and for others would last.
And I think that it is these sort of things are what is really important.
And worth living for.

What hinders you from truly living? What prevents you from following the Author of Life?

Think about it.

There is a liberating freedom in letting go.