Letting Go

The Extra Penny

~Letting Go~



You can’t move forward until you let go of the past. We know this, right? So why is it so hard for some of us? I can rant on this because this is something that haunted me for a long, long time. If you have been anywhere near me in the last year or so, you know I have taken many amazingly large leaps of growth in this area, but this isn’t about that. This is about what we all have in common, the past, the present, and our future. If you are reading this, you have a present and hope for a future. Surely, you have a past.


We all have baggage, well, most of us do. I relate well to people who have been through stuff. I feel that we somehow connect. But not so long ago I realized that I was really, really tired of lugging all of that incredibly heavy baggage around. I don’t mean ‘lessons learned’, I keep those. They’re valuable. I mean the baggage. You know what I’m talking about. Letting the past be *who I am*. I am not what I have been through. It’s been said in many different ways, but our past is not who we are.

Recently I was asked “What did you learn from that relationship?” and it really made me realize that I like where I am. I LOVE where I am! I love that everything that I have been through in the past has brought me to so many new understandings. It’s easy to have pity parties and roll around in the muck of all the crap that has happened to us, but do we really want to live in muck? Would you want your child to live like that? Do you think God wants us to live like that? What’s really wonderful is when we can genuinely relate to others going through similar things we’ve been through. When we can show them hope that things really will be okay. Haven’t you had someone do that for you? I have, and even though I was sorry for the pain they had experienced, I was glad for their true empathy. Now, sometimes, I’m that person. You are too for someone, I bet. We all have some cruddy skeletons that fall out of our closet, or the demons of bad decisions but this doesn’t mean we give up, or lay down with them and die! I don’t believe in dishonoring my Father by giving up on His plan for me because of mistakes. He made me. He knew I would make mistakes. I’m forgiven. Done. Moving forward.



My point is this: God had something in mind for each of us to fulfill, therefore he created us uniquely and individually for these tasks. We weren’t born and then God said “Yeah, I think I can fit him in here some place.” We were created for a reason… and if you are still here, if you are still reading this you have a purpose. You have a future and God is not through with you. You have not yet lived up to your full potential yet. You aren’t done.



Holding on to the past gets really heavy, doesn’t it? Why do we think we have to ask God time and time again for forgiveness when after the first time He has no idea what we’re talking about? Why do we love to submerge ourselves in pity and regret when forgiveness and newness are already available? The chains can be off immediately, with the turn of the key that has already been purchased with the blood of our Savior! Is it easier to give up and live a life of ho-hum? I think for some it is, but that, to me is a sad, sad life and good enough is by no means good enough. If my child messes up, I expect him or her to keep right on going with life! I expect my kids to live each day to the fullest and not ‘quit life’ because a mistake was made. So why do we do that? For heaven’s sake that’s what we do when we lug our baggage around. We’re giving up on a fully loaded future. You can’t extend your hand to all that God has for you if you are holding tightly to the past.



I know, I did it for a while, but I’m not doing it anymore. Bring it God! Bless me and mine! The past is not who I am… God took it and made me better, stronger, wiser, and I thank Him for that. I’ll use those tools for what He has in store for me next. No room for heavy stuff on this journey. Just faith, hope, and lessons learned… and an extended hand, of course! Ok, two extended hands…God, bless me BIG so that I can bless others.



Becky Wilkenson

June 26, 2012