In our fast paced lives, there are only few times in a week when the entire family sits together for a meal. I, being a firm believer in the idea – “The family which eats together, stays together” – have been trying for our Sunday lunch to be a family affair – my wife, two kids and myself. On a recently passed by Sunday however, this wasn’t to be.
The reason was a trivial one – delay on part of my eight year old daughter. However, due to impulsive nature, I reacted angrily which could have been avoided. The result was my daughter crying and yelling back at me too. I managed to control myself from reprimanding her since we were about to have food. It was with great difficulty that I controlled my urge to point out her mistake but I was simmering inside all the time.
We finished our lunch and I was still thinking of how to ‘let go’ the entire episode. But before I could come up with a solution, my daughter came upto me with tears in her eyes and a paper written “बाबा, I am sorry”.
I was taken aback, also ashamed of myself by her apology and the manner with which she ‘let go’ the entire episode. Here I was, probably overthinking my way out of it. But the eight year old had accepted that yelling at her father was wrong. She ‘let go’ her anger and moved on.
The result was a very good one. We enjoyed the rest of our Sunday with more zeal. Also, I was left a wiser man – to ‘let go’ our anger/resentment/ego and moving on should be the way of life.
How I wish, we grown ups could learn from children. We often see them crying at one moment and laughing in another. We see them fighting over some petty reason but making up in a short while. God created us with all his heart and beauty. Somewhere, we forget our inherent good nature and start behaving irrationally. To ‘let go’ and move on is probably the single most important quality we need to remember and inculcate in our lives.
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
– Lao Tzu
