This Trust and These Wheels

Don't hate them, thank them. 

Not having but letting go. 

The disciplined pursuit of less.  

"Don’t hate your training wheels once you take them off. Thank them for helping you get started on your cycling journey.” I wrote these words from Richard Rohr at the top of my journal page. I was reading about our never-ending process of growing and moving forward. It takes stages. It takes time. We need training wheels to get us started. Then we take them off when we’re ready, grateful for each new step and each new set of training wheels along the way.  

“Dysfunctional Belief: Happiness is having it all. Reframe: Happiness is letting go of what you don’t need.” In another journal, I wrote these words from Bill Burnett, co-author of Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life. I love the idea of letting go rather than having. It is a much healthier approach to living that is backed by both ancient wisdom and modern science.  

Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism, is subtitled The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. It is about owning less non-essential items, but even more so, it’s about doing less non-essential tasks. By eliminating the non-essentials, we make space for the things that are. This follows up nicely with Burnett’s not having but letting go.  

These lives we live are a trust. We are stewards and caretakers. We must care for ourselves and for our world. We hold this “property” of our lives for a short time. What we choose to do with this trust is up to us. We know this, and we know that our duty as steward and caretaker is not to be selfish, but to be sacrificial. To use our heart’s cry to do meaningful work in these days we are given. If this trust is to be spent well, we need to eliminate the non-essentials and pursue less.  

Happy people do have it all, they let go of what they don’t need and appreciate the things that matter. And it is wise to remember that our life experiences have brought us here to this unique point in this unique life that can serve this world where we live and the people with whom we live. I am thankful for this understanding. I am grateful for the essential. I am energized to continue designing this life. This well-lived, joyful life. Stewarding this trust. Continuing this pursuit. And thanking these training wheels.  

Photo by Amber Faust on Unsplash