The Art of Letting Go

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“Let go or be dragged.” – Zen Proverb

When I walk Cooper the dog in the morning, our cat, Simone, usually follows along. She is masterful at blending in or when other dogs come along and then appearing out of the shadows to keep pace with us when all is clear.

Yesterday, another neighborhood cat started aggressively running toward Simone as if to say, “How dare you cross that patch of sidewalk?”

Sensing the movement, Cooper turned to face the neighborhood cat. It stopped in its tracks. It seemed to be weighing whether confronting our cat was worth risking Cooper’s involvement.

After a long moment of stare down with Cooper and Simone, the cat ran opposite the way we were going.

I chuckled and thought to myself “Life is about wisely deciding what to let go.”

It reminded me of a conversation I had with my brother this past weekend. He said that he used to teach people how to make a to-do list.

  • List everything out.
  • Put it in order.
  • Draw a line in the middle and just accept you were only going to get the top half done.

Then he glanced around my kitchen with the unread newspapers, the mix of dog toys and kids toys on the floor, and the school art projects waiting to be hung and said,

“Maybe only the top third in your case.”

Yeah, but I made a delicious dinner. I’m getting better at letting go of the rest.

(featured photo is mine: Simone on the family walk)

68 thoughts on “The Art of Letting Go”

  5. I like your brother’s idea of ordering and prioritizing things. My work necessitated I re-prioritize tasks each morning, because to be sure there were ones from the day before that did not get done, as well as new, “hot” items which suddenly appeared. Always do what is most important first…and to be sure some of those tasks at the bottom will work their way towards the top at some point, Wynne.🙂

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  6. Whoa…”life is about deciding what to let go”…that’s an awesome chunk of insight…however you got there…dog/cat relations (glad they achieve detente!) or commentary from a funny/smart brother. I like your conclusion and I’m with Dr. Stein. Dinner wins! 🥰😉🥰

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  7. Your brother sounds funny! I’ve had many lessons in “letting go by necessity” and it’s been a valuable skill, and quite freeing, as the Zen Proverb suggests.

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  8. Your brother’s comment made me laugh! Yes, you have a busy life. Our dog Angus would protect our cat if another creature would come into our yard — another cat or raccoon. Once, we walked downtown (a few blocks away) to a Christmas Tree sale. We were wandering up and down the rows of trees with the dog and our two children. Under a tree, our kitty jumped out to greet us. We had no idea she had tailed us.

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    1. Isn’t that funny about cats following us? Simone followed us when she was very young – but then stopped until we got Cooper. I guess she thinks she needs to keep tabs on him. 🙂 And I love your stories about Angus. That’s a good one!

      My brother makes me laugh, too! 🙂

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      1. That’s funny about Simone keeping tabs on Cooper. Our cat who followed us was Sherman. We had her before Olive. Angus got to be both of their protectors during his lifetime. Olive is a scaredy cat and ventured out of our Palm Springs yard one time. I found her under a bush down the street while calling her name. She gave a little meow and I carried her home.

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  10. I’m supposed to be working on something for my work. A report-thingy that I’ve been putting off completing. I took a break to check out WordPress and came to your post. “Life is about wisely deciding what to let go.” I think it’s a sign to let my work go! What do you think Wynne? Ha, ha.

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  12. The delicious dinner supersedes everything else on the list!

    Okay, most of it anyway.

    Even cats get it right sometimes.

    Love that proverb. Getting dragged sounds less than optimal!

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  16. Letting go is an art and skill we all need to practice more. Many times I apply the triage method to my to-do lists, and be happy that I have dealt with a critical one or two…the rest will wait. 💞

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  17. Love this Wynne! It’s been a lifelong experimental & learning experience(s) for me and still I don’t complete my lengthy to do lists 😀 Isn’t it a great feeling though having replaced the boring bits with something we really enjoy doing. Yeah, letting it go – never thought of it that way before.
    Note to self.. “must try harder”.
    On letting it go of course 👌

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  18. I love that your cat joins you for morning walks! And your bro has a good, practical lesson about to-do lists. Yeah, not all that stuff is going to get done. But we can delight in delicious dinners! And morning walks. 🙂

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    1. I like that you are in agreement with walks, delicious dinners and knowing some of the rest isn’t going to get done! Yeah, the cat is funny – she likes to shadow us. Probably thinks we are up to no good! 🙂

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  22. I find it interesting when people take their cats out for a walk! I never tried it! Yes, the list thing is only too true!

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  23. I love this Wynne, “maybe only the top third in your case.” Bahaha. I agree, letting go of the perfectionism, the worry, the keeping up of appearances –let it go! I say, prioritize the fun, forget the messes, enjoy the moment, the people, and the food. Hugs, C

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  24. Interesting approach on expectations about the to-do list. But, my items are not listed in order of importance, as I add to it constantly. I’m more likely to scan the list for things that I can knock out quickly and try to get those done. But, point taken that everything on the list will not get done during a normal day. I am with you on prioritizing the family here and now!

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  26. Typical me, I have a running list from which I cherry pick the most appealing of the moment. If something is put off long enough, it eventually gets removed. Dinner would always be at the top of my list, if prepared by someone else, of course! Love that Cooper saved the day.

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