wisdom from a sweater

“There are better things ahead than what we leave behind.” C.S. Lewis. This is a piece of wisdom so important but so often forgotten. Why is it so hard to move ahead? To let things go? Recently, I washed one of my favorite sweaters. It is one of the kind that are so soft, you feel like you are wrapped in a blanket every time you wear it. It also is the kind that you can never ever wash because it isn’t the same the moment you do. I got it out of the washer, and the threads were pulled, the softness was gone, and it looked worn and dingy. The lump in my throat appeared as I thought about how much I had loved it. If you have ever shrunk a favorite shirt, it’s that same feeling. The irreversible ruining of clothes. It was not the same as it was when I saw it on the hanger. Then it was new and pretty. Every stitch sitting perfectly. I had to make the very hard decision to part with my new favorite sweater. I had to not think about what it once was, but what it was now. It no longer looked good. I had to let it go. It seems silly, I know, to compare life to a sweater, but think about it. I find that I hang on to what things used to be in spite of how they are now. Things change, whether we like it or not. Sometimes, things can get so much better and become even more important in our lives, but sometimes they come out with threads pulled. They are no longer good things. This year, several things changed for me. School, friends, family, and (of course) myself. I had to learn to see the pulled threads and choose to let them go. As hard as it is, I had to see past the special memories or sweet moments and see things as they were. Different. But, like my sweater, they were once good things. I could continue to wear my sweater, but the threads would become holes, the arms would stretch, and it would become an item in the trash pile. The softness and newness overshadowed by the horrible thing it had become. In life, we can’t always hold onto what things were in the hopes of them getting better simply because they were once so good. Otherwise, what is bad becomes toxic, until the good is forgotten. The beginning of the year is a time to reflect on what is good, what has changed, and what needs to change. I had to let go and cherish the memories, even if I have to move on. I had to realize that it isn’t bad to let go. It is part of God’s purpose in other’s lives as well as my own. People and situations enter our lives to change them in one way or another. Each a way to grow us, each a way to sift us. While the sweater kept me warm, at some point I would no longer need its warmth, threads pulled or not. It would have fulfilled its purpose in my life. So, this coming year, I am letting go with a happy heart toward 2017, and an expectant heart toward 2018. I am letting go of the past hurts and the past changes so that I can fully embrace the better things God has for me ahead. After all, you can’t move forward if you only look back.