Oportus blog October 2023

Time to let go…

Last month, I wrote about not giving up because the potential is in the seed. How ironic that this month I would now be writing that it is time to let go.

For those of you waiting with bated breath for an update on our butternut squashes, it is this that has led to our journey to letting go. My wife has pulled up everything else that was trying to grow among them, both for their own protection and so we could allow the butternuts to just do their thing for the next few weeks, as we’ve been told this is the time when the fruit should be growing. Tempting as it is to go and keep checking on them every day, I know their growth or failure is outside my control. Watching and waiting can be so much easier said than done but we just have to let go; but here are the latest pictures:

On the theme of time to let go, I was fascinated to notice the way the water just “sat” on these leaves when I watered them the other day – the water seems more like gel than water – and it remained like that for over a day!

I can find it hard to rest. I can find it hard not to be “doing”, especially when progress isn’t clear, and things don’t feel too busy. But these are the times when, whether I like it or not, I need to realise that things are rarely within my control anyway. Equally, I know that at the right moment, when the plants are dry enough, they will absorb the water and get the nourishment they need – I could have started prodding and spraying to speed things up, but it wasn’t necessary; when I let go, the plants took in the water they needed, when they needed it.

Can you relate? Do you sometimes struggle to know when it’s time to let go? In business or a venture of some sort many seeds can be planted (ideas, products, services, partnerships) and some will grow quicker or better than others. It’s important to know when to let go of something so that something else can be given a chance even though there is no guarantee of its success; that can be the most challenging thing about letting go, but unless we do, we’ll never know. You may be on your journey of letting go now or the need to let go may come up in the future - we hope this blog helps; please do share it with anyone you think it could.

Please share your thoughts with me, and in the meantime, let’s keep learning…