Each of the four seasons, their countless stages, all the actors appearing there: clouds, rain, earth, grasses, sunlight, trees, fruit, seeds, winds, and dancing leaves — all serve to reveal a great, silent, and unseen story called “Letting Go.” This story is a mysterious one, for it is played out upon a stage that is itself contained within a greater stage hidden just behind it — much in the same way as a single sound stage operates within the larger motion picture studio that oversees its shooting schedule. And, to help complete the picture, this studio complex is, itself, but one part of a still larger entertainment corporation. The point here is as follows: each of these stages upon which we see life unfolding holds another stage and is, in turn, held by a still greater stage, infinitely.

The only thing that changes (and everything does!) on these stages of life — from sub-atomic levels all the way up to and through the expansive cosmos itself — is the size of and character of the actors moving upon and through them, the endless cast of creatures playing out the act of letting go. Again, let’s see!

As summer trees must cast off their ripened fruits, so the whole summer season must submit itself to the coming cooler days of fall. And, accordingly, as the earth turns, each season must let go and allow the coming season its time and place — even as the earth itself must yield to the sun’s influence over the whole of her body. But neither has the sun any choice when it comes to releasing the fruit of its abundant radiant energy. For in letting go the sun not only provides life-giving forces for all created to receive them, but also lights up all the stages upon which life has been made possible because of it. As little, but wise Yoda of Star Wars fame would say: Grand, it is!

Now we have come to the most important question of all: where is our place in this extraordinary life? What is our role in a reality that unfolds as it does because the continual act of letting go makes all things possible? Let’s take a moment to see what is right before our eyes.

Do we not each go through what we can call the personal “seasons of life” during our lifetime on earth? We have all known, according to our years and experiences, the sweet springtime of youth, the deep summer of fulfillment, the bittersweet fall of letting others do for us what we can no longer do, and the chill of winter? Coming to the close of one’s life is itself but a passing season in an unseen greater one. Do try to see the timeless beauty in all of this change, and you will.

Is any one of us less than a rose, or less than the single raindrop that — in falling to feed and refresh the flowers — makes it possible for them to open and reveal their rainbow of colors and fragrance for us? The answer should be evident.

We are more than the rose, greater than the solar radiance that stirs her essence to bloom. For neither rose nor sun’s radiance is conscious of the great story they serve as they let go and give themselves up to life.

In truth, we human beings are created unique among all things that take life and then give it back on the stage of life, for we are made to witness this eternal story… and more.

We are not made to have only a relative role in this Great story, to be — as are all other creatures — just a minor, passing actor upon its stage. No, the promise of our potential far outweighs even our ability to imagine it, for we have been created to consciously participate in its timeless telling.

365 Days to Let Go: Daily Insights to Change Your Life is available as an eBook for just $5.99 (for a limited time) and comes with a 60-minute MP3 as a bonus gift. To learn more visit www.guyfinley.org