One early-winter morning in 2003, a group of tourists gathered in the parking lot of the Domaine Chandon winery in Napa Valley, California.
They'd come for a hot-air balloon flight over the vineyards. As the balloon was being prepared, a sudden breeze kicked up and one of the tourists, a young man from Scotland named Brian Stevenson, grabbed the basket, trying to help out.
But the balloon broke free and began to lift off. The professionals knew to let go immediately, but Stevenson hung on as the balloon ascended 300 hundred feet over the parking lot, where his grip finally failed, and he fell to his death.
An employee from the company had said in an interview later that day, "he refused to let go when told to do so five to six times, even with someone pulling on his legs."
"We have no idea why he held on," the local sheriff said later.
But we know why Brian held on, don't we?
We've done it ourselves, haven't we?
At what first seemed like a great idea turned out to be a horrible decision that caused us to come crashing down and ultimately hitting rock bottom.
Initially we start something because it seems like the right thing to do. But after any period of time, that gray area starts to change colors and now you're too invested to back out.
The entire time Brian was rising I have to imagine he kept thinking to himself, "I should've let go sooner."
The longer we hold on, the worse it gets.
We hope that holding on is the right thing to do. We hope that if we just hold on, some miracle will happen and everything will be OK. But in Brian's case, holding on too long was the problem.
So, I ask you.
What do you need to let go of? Is holding on any longer going to kill you?
What are you holding onto so tightly that you should've let go of years ago?
Yes, the fall of letting go now will probably hurt. You may figuratively break a leg or an arm. But it is only going to get worse the longer you hold on, until you're forced to let go.
Are you holding a grudge you need to let go of?
Do you need to let go of others' actions that caused you pain?
What about self-doubt?
A relationship?
The job you hate?
How about old, out-dated beliefs?
Let go.
Take some uninterrupted time to think about what you need to let go of before it gets too late.
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