Finding Beauty By Letting Go

Back in 202 when Susanne and were living in our RV we spent a few weeks in Emerald Isle, North Carolina.

One Saturday we planned to take a boat ride out to Carrot Island. After doing some research, Susanne read that this island was famous for its abundance of sand dollars and wild horses.

As one who loves to hunt for shells, Susanne was excited to go and explore. As one who grew up with horses, I was pretty pumped at the experience of seeing horses in the wild, a first for me.

As I am prone to do, I pictured the perfect day clearly in my head and was eager for the weekend to arrive and to jump into the experience.

When Saturday arrived, my expectations were quickly dashed. Instead of the perfect mid-70s day with a calm ocean breeze, we were greeted by 30 miles per hour winds.

The water had white caps and as the boat to the island bounced and slammed down on the rough cold water, which splashed over into the boat and those of us who decided this was a good idea. When we arrived at the island, the wind was so strong that the sand from the beach was whipping our legs and faces and any attempt to set up a chair or blanket proved challenging.

This was not the vision I had in my head when we made our plan. This was not the picture-perfect Hallmark card day that I had been looking forward to and because of that, I was pissed.

As we began walking down the beach, I could feel my bad mood rapidly increasing. I was mumbling under my breath at the wind, and the cold water. I was also growing increasingly irritated that after having walked 30 minutes there was still no sign of wild horses, I was ready to pack it in and head back.

Then, I caught myself.

I was allowing my unmet expectations to rob me of the beauty that was all around me.

I was on a relatively secluded island with my best friend. We (I should say Susanne) were finding sand dollars as advertised. The waves crashing on the shore were beautiful, the sun was shining and we did eventually see wild horses, had a pleasant picnic on the beach, had a lot of laughs, and very many pictures of a great day.

I determined I was going to enjoy it - all of it and I did so by letting go of the expectations that I had held onto so tightly.

I find that so many miss out on the beauty of life due to expectations.

We either spend time in disappointment because of our own missed expectations or we chase things that are not life-giving in an attempt to fulfill the expectations others have of us.

I am continually learning that holding things loosely and proceeding with no expectations is a healthier way to live. It enables us to be in a place to receive life as it unfolds and experience the wonder of our world in a whole new way.

Take time this weekend to see if you have expectations that may be holding you back and then take the steps to let them go and revel in what transpires.

On the journey with you,

Carlos