Letting Go

A cheerful 5-year old girl with bouncy golden curls was waiting with her mother at the check-out counter when she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please...?"

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"One rand ninety-five, that's almost R2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get some money from Grandma."

As soon as Aysha got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 cents. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. Kamaa if she could pick Dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another rand and at last, she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Aysha loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them every where - Madrassa, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Aysha had a very loving Daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night, when he finished the story, he asked Aysha,

"Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you."

Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess - the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favourite!"

"That's okay, honey... Daddy loves you". And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Aysha's Daddy asked her again,

"Do you love me?"

"Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

”Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay... sleep well little one. Daddy loves you."

And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her Daddy came in, Aysha was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek,

"What is it, Aysha? What's the matter?"

Aysha didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her Daddy.

When she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said,

"Here, Daddy... it's for you..."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Aysha's kind Daddy reached out with one hand to take the cheap store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Aysha. He had them all the time; he was just waiting for her to give up the cheap store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure.

So as it is with Allah. Allah is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that Allah can give us beautiful treasures. Are you holding onto things which Allah wants you to let go of? Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities which you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go of?

Sometimes, it is so hard to see what is in the other hand, but do believe this one thing : Allah will never take away something without giving you something better to take its place.

~ The End ~


Nice story, isn't it? I believe, some of you might have read this story before.

It's so true... sometimes it's just so hard to let go of someone or something which have been a part of you for so long eventhough he/she doesn't serve any purpose anymore.

Take relationships, for example. I've been through this many times before but when people asked me, "Why is it so hard for you to let him go"? I just didn't have an answer.

Maybe it was habitual, a hard habit to break. Eventhough all he did was making my life miserable, I stayed on for fear that my life would be even more miserable if I had lost him. I failed to realise that if I had let him go, I'd be a better person. I'd be happier, I'd cry less, I'd have less stress, and perhaps I'd meet someone better.

But the act of letting go is no small task. Not everyone can do it. I, for one, could never muster the strength to let go of my man no matter how bad he'd treated me. I was afraid I could never meet someone new.

The period between separation and meeting someone new can be strenuous. The fear of being alone can force one person to stay on a bad relationship eventhough everybody else says "Go!"

I learnt the art of letting go from my husband, then my boyfriend. He was the one who told me to let go of my past before I can find true happiness.

We were having a quarrel at that time and he wrote me a very long e-mail. He said,

"Yati, you will never find happiness if you keep holding on to your past relationship and maintained a link with it, be it friendship or anything similar. One day you will hurt yourself and saddest of all of all, you will hurt your partner who has no connection with your relationship in the past. This time it was me who are at the receiving end... but it will be the same for the next guy and the next guy if you continue to play around with your past and the present.."

At that time, I never realised that by maintaining close link with my past would spoil my chances with my current partner. I never looked at it that way, anyway. So after that incident, I began to think. Is it true what he said? That I should completely detach myself from my past in order to find true love? That I shouldn't hang on to old boyfriends in my pursuit of happiness?

So I made a decision that night - my past had to go. It was a choice between him and and my ex. I chose him, and so my ex had to go.

Oh man, it was so hard to pick up the phone and tell him that I couldn't see him anymore. I was crying buckets because he had been a part of my life for so long. But I had to do it. I kept on saying, "I'd rather lose you than him."

So I did it. And after that, MrN and I became very good friends, then lovers and now husband and wife.

I'm happy I made that decision because it just lifted a whole burden off my shoulder. Something that has been hanging on to me for a so long and when it's finally gone, it was such a relief.

MrNordin was right when he said, "You can never find happiness if you hold on to your past". Be it old boyfriends, old grievances or old habits, just let them go. You'll be so much happier if you just do that.