My Maa always used to say that , " You should always keep your almirah clean and organized . Clear away the old things to make way for the new . So that the old energy will clear itself out and there will be enough space for the new to enter . " I always used to wonder why she used to say that . I would immediately ask her , " But Maa , Is it necessary to get rid of the old? Can't we manage to hold on to both old and new ? " To which her reply was , " Yes , both old and new can co exist . But what I mean to say by clear the old things is to get rid of the old things which have served their purpose already . Those things will take up unnecessary space in your almirah and will become an obstacle for new things ." And my instant question was , " Won't it be too selfish of me to let those things go which have played such an important part in my life in the past ? How can I let them go? " My Mom replied , " It's not selfish to release things which have served their purpose . Say a heartfelt thankyou to those things , mourn the loss but release them lovingly . "
I did not know at that time that my maa was not just teaching me to clear the space in my almirah constantly but she was teaching me the way of life itself . I've always been a person who gets attached to things and people and holds on to things till the point it hurts .My almirah is like a huge box of memories for me . I've created a certain memory in my mind regarding every thing inside that almirah .So it is more difficult for me to let go of the things inside my almirah .But now I realize that there is no point in holding on to memories which have lost their true essence . It is like watering dead plants and expecting them to revive . I thought that holding on to something which hurts us is an act of bravery . Until one day I realized that letting go of the things that hurt us is more difficult and an ultimate act of bravery . Letting go of something or someone whom you are attached to , increases your inner strength and resilience. Forgiving and releasing the things from past which created toxicity in our life and planting new and fresh seeds of hope is both an art as well as part of life .
The reason we hold on to the old things is because we subconsciously fear the uncertainty . But we forget that life itself is uncertain . Even though certainty is comfortable still it is transient . The more tightly we hold on to certainty , the more we suffer in life . We suffer when we keep on embracing the same thorns . So for once , it is necessary to try to embrace the beauty even if it seems uncertain because neither every certain thing is good nor every uncertain thing is bad .
The trees are never scared of the fall because they know that the season will change soon and that they will be compensated with newly bloomed leaves for every leaf they dared to let go . The life indeed is a wise teacher because it keeps recycling the same experiences in one or the other manner till we learn the lesson . For every dark night , there is a fresh new dawn and for every thorn , there is a fragrance waiting to be explored . You just need to create the space in the almirah inside your house as well as your heart to let life bloom inside it .
© Minotee Gokhale