Sometimes, you just have to let it go — release it — be set free.

Let me explain.

I know how things are “supposed” to go in my life. I mean, come on. . . Don’t you?

For example. . .

• My outfit will look so “on point” if I put those two pieces together.
• My car won’t fall apart until I have driven it for (at least) six years.
• My new city will be just as charming as my last one.
• My students will listen to me the first time.
• My licensure tests will be easy.
• My career will go smoothly.
• My new job will bring awesome friendships.
• My husband will like the new “dish” I tried out for supper.
• My corny joke in the grocery check-out line will be met with a chuckle or two.

And, you know what? Sometimes, I am right! Things go according to plan. The new “dish” is met with a sweet kiss to finish off the meal. The school day is successful; none of my students threw an attitude or balked at a directive. I even come home to the house picked up and the bed made by my husband! And so on. . .

But. . . Sometimes? Well, sometimes my outfit looks horrific as I walk out the door, and I don’t have time to change so I feel frumpy all day. My car might be making some “odd” noises, more so than before, and I hope I can “baby” it through. My corny joke at the grocery store is met with a blank stare from the cashier, and I feel quite awkward as I swipe my card. Or perhaps my new city just doesn’t feel quite like the last.

Tell me that you’ve been there, too. . . When the day just won’t end and the disappointments keep piling up.

Well, friend. Here’s what I have found. (And, I speak from experience here. . .) It is so easy to hold on to all those frustrations, disappointments, irritations, and insecurities. In fact, you just keep holding on to them daily. The frustrations from a frazzled Monday are carried into Tuesday. Your irritation at some simple misunderstanding at work comes home with you and causes you to “snap” at your spouse for no apparent reason. Your failure the first time you try something difficult causes you to never try again and miss out on an incredible success.

Let it go. Seriously.

Life is just life. Ok? I might only be 23, but I have let way too many days, weeks, months, and moments go by feeling hurt or frustrated or unhappy by things I just couldn’t change. . . even things that (even though I did not realize it at the moment) were making me into a stronger, more capable person.

The car repair that was $300 more than you wanted to pay and didn’t even fix the problem. . . The rough day in the classroom that made you cry. . . Don’t let times like that define you.

I have realized that I am a much happier and kinder person when I let. things. go.

• “Oh, well. . . I’ll do better next time.”
• “Yeah, okay. I just looked like the most awkward human being in Kroger.”
• “Perhaps I should never wear this outfit again. In fact, I should probably burn it.”
• “At least next time I know what NOT to say to that student.”
• “This will make a good story.”

The definition of release is this: (1) to relieve from something that confines, burdens, or oppresses or (2) to give up in favor of another.

What do you need to release today? What do you need to let go of today?

I’m not saying that it will be easy. . . (It’s a moment-by-moment choice somedays.) But, I am saying that it is worth it.

Life is too short to hold on to things that just. don’t. matter. CHOOSE to free yourself from that extra “stuff” that weighs you down.