Letting Go

I learned teaching archery the hardest thing for people to learn was letting go. I could tell them over and over "let go of the string" and they'd look at me with a desperate expression while they opened some of their fingers, usually dropping the arrow and still managed to grip the string. The arrow can't fly if you don't let go. The string even pulls against your fingers, which should hint at the natural action of opening your hand. Somehow it doesn't.
I tried different tactics but still that letting go got in the way of success. 
It was a wise old friend who explained the problem was the words. Letting go is hard to do, we try to get those things back or we aren't sure. Releasing isn't hard, it's what you do when it's something we weren't meant to keep- or it would be ridiculous to keep. We don't let go of the bee in our house, we release it out a window.
I started using that word in my lessons and people stopped holding the string. They were successful, with less anxiety and effort. They had fun without difficulty, not realizing how challenging that pesky string could be.
When you try to let go of things, do you end up gripping them tighter? Letting go of baggage and trauma, just brings those bags back in a landslide of weight. Acknowledging and releasing them lessens emotional impact and allows you to move forward.
You can create new healthy expectations, allow stability and growth by releasing yourself from the stuck spots and feelings. You don't have to remember everything. You don't have to relive it. You can choose your focus, your direction, who you want to be and how you want to be treated.
Walking in circles in your head trying to find the right spot to unravel the pain from the past only keeps you living the wound and sinking back into the mindset and perceptions that were there when you were wounded. A broken hand doesn't heal by having the same trauma over and over, or by having the injury ignored.
May you release what's been holding you back and allow yourself to grow.