I just read a note from a widowed mom whose whole family just celebrated her youngest child’s graduation from high school. She exalted in a job well done, recognizing that she too is entering an entirely new phase of her life. At the same time, she isn’t quite sure how to make the transition.
I empathized. I remember my shock at my own uncontrollable sobbing after leaving my youngest child in her new college dorm room. At the time I had no idea why.
In retrospect, it wasn’t about the separation, she had already been away traveling for 6 months. It was much more about what I was letting go. Yes, celebrations of young people moving on also force the parents to let go of many things.
One thing is obviously your role as the one who feels responsible—whether or not you are doesn’t matter. Another is your old relationship with your child. These things still exist but in a new, unfamiliar form that hasn’t yet been clarified. Still another is your definition of who you are now.
This mom is musing that she may also need something, perhaps a celebration, to mark the change in her life. It’s a great idea!
If letting go seems harder than it should be, try using the process in “Letting It Go,” focused on the old roles of your life and your beliefs about them. I wish I had it available when I was going through my own happy transitions.
This post is a comment I wrote about a passage on Page 74 revised edition, P 82 original of Letting It Go: Relieve Anxiety and Toxic Stress in Just a Few Minutes Using Only Words (Rapid Relief with Logosynthesis®). You can see the passage in the book. You can also see the excerpt here. This link will take you to Bublish.com, where I regularly publish comments on parts of this book. This is a site where authors share of their work. You can subscribe to my musings, there, as well as to the musings of many other authors. It’s a great place to learn about new books and I recommend that you visit.