Relax Your Grip

This summer I worked on teaching my son how to swim.  He is six years old and though he enjoys being in the water is sometimes nervous about going under.  His response to dealing with his fear is never getting his head wet.  So I watched him as he played and observed his commitment to never letting his head go under the water.  I thought to myself “he’s missing out on so much and doesn’t even know it.”  I think there are several times in our lives where we are missing out on things in our lives because we have taken such a tight hold on every aspect of our life that we actually lose our grip.  In training people on how to hold a bat in baseball you teach them to hold the bat tight enough so it doesn’t fly out of your hands but not so tight that you’re actually clenching down on it.  Its kind of like holding a small bird in your hands, holding tight enough that it doesn’t fly away but loose enough that you don’t hut it.  If we’re not careful we will hold our lives too tightly and never really get to truly experience the power they are capable of.  Last summer my son went from being committed to not getting his hair wet to swimming because he was willing to “let go”.  Are you willing?  What are you holding tightly to?