When to Let Go
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Buckshot was a birthday gift to my husband the first year we were married, almost 16 years ago. He is a blue tick colored rat terrier with a stumpy little tail. From the time he was a puppy, he and David have been inseparable. He’s had a few injuries over the years, and this last year has been hard on the old dog. He’s got a couple of growths on his body that we are pretty sure is cancer, he is getting little doggie dementia, and his back legs are giving out. It’s so hard to watch old age take the life out of this once feisty dog.
I got to visit with my grandma for Mother’s Day and we were talking about Buckshot getting older. I said, “Granny, it’s hard watching an old dog getting older and not being able to get around like he used to.”
She piped back, “You should try watching all the old people around you, including yourself. Getting old isn’t easy.”
Her words really hit me. When we are in our twenties and thirties, we don’t think about getting older. We are invincible and trying every new thing that comes our way. As my husband hit 40 this weekend and we are watching our kids grow up before our eyes, our perspective is changing. I look at our parents and they are the same age as my grandparents were when I was a kid. And it’s happened so fast. Before long, I’m going to be my grandmother’s age, watching my friends and myself get older, remembering what life used to be like, learning what’s really important and what I need to let go of.
My husband is struggling with what to do with Buckshot. The dog is in obvious pain and suffering, but at what point do you let go? When is it that the pain gets too great and begins effecting the quality of life?
We don’t know what to do with our little dog, but I know soon we will have to let him go, whether by having him put down or through natural causes. Either way, letting go is hard. I think about my grandma and her position in life right now. She, along with other folks her age, are having to let go of a lot of things: independence, pride, long time friendships, eyesight, hearing, dexterity, and the list goes on and on. And even us folks stuck somewhere in the middle have things we need to be prepared to let go of: anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, fear, heartache, friends, family, circumstances, and even health. I think about Buckshot. At some point the pain gets too great and begins effecting our quality of life. When it does, no matter how hard it hurts, we have to let choose to let it go some stuff.
What have you been holding on to that you need to let go of? Is anything in your life taking the life out of you? Examine those areas. Letting go will be hard, but at some point, we all have to do it.
