Holding on while letting go

Inspiration

By Don Lindsey

The last two weeks have been trying for my family and me, to say the least. Earlier this month I took my father to the dermatologist to check out a couple of spots on his skin that had him concerned. Being a survivor of skin cancer, that threat is always there but on Thursday of this past week, I got the call confirming the worst.

His cancer was back.

Obviously, this is a scary time for all involved and thankfully I will be taking him in soon for surgery and the doctor said that they are as sure as they can be that he’ll leave the office that day cancer free. Early detection and prayer are in my opinion the key ingredients to the good news regarding the upcoming removal of cancer and so we’ll keep those going but this situation has also done something to me. It’s making me look within. This is something that I discovered today (Saturday) as I was attending a memorial service for the mother of my best friend and someone who was a big part of my youth. As I looked at pictures of her and the family, I started to ask myself a couple of questions and to my surprise, I didn’t like the answers to those questions at all.

Question one was am I getting the most out of my life? I know that I’m not the first person to ask myself that and the answer was no, I’m not making enough time for the wonderful things that God has so graciously given me.

The second question was a follow up from the first. Why is this the case? After thinking about that for quite some time, I concluded that one of the big reasons was that I worry about everything. Now granted, things such as my father having skin cancer is definitely something to worry about, but I seem to take worrying to a different level and find something in just about everything to freak out about these days.

Once I made the realization, I started to think of ways to cut down and organize the things that I stress about in order to free up time to enjoy my life. There is a bright side to my father’s situation, and I know that God is looking out for him so all I have to do is place the stress on the Lord’s shoulders and as He’s shown me time and time again, He’ll do the heavy lifting. I thought that if I could apply that idea to everything else then my concern or urge to be worried about so many different things might subside. As soon as I gave that theory a try, I relaxed almost immediately and started to remember things from my childhood that involved going places with my friend and his mom. Those memories are precious to me as are the ones that I’m making with my own family, so it only makes sense to hold on to the positives and to let go of the stress and other negative things that cloud my view of what’s really important.

Each day is a possibility to learn, to love and to make a positive impact on the lives of those around us and for me, that is always something that I need to have in mind. I have certainly learned a lot this last couple of weeks and the most helpful lesson to me is that holding on to positive situations and experiences while letting go of the negative ones will help me get the most out of each day and the most out of my life in general.

Don Lindsey is a follower of Christ, son, husband, father, and a survivor. Originally from Dayton Ohio, and resident of Apopka for six years, Don sees his life as a dedication to his wife, parents, children, and community.