Letting Go: Minivans & Mongolia

Letting go, whether we choose it or we are forced into it, can yield incredible experiences. We hold ourselves captive from so many things, like trying something new, forgiving someone, maybe changing jobs or moving for a better life. Once we free ourselves from this captive state, there is opportunity all around.

In the memoir Sihpromatum I Grew my Boobs in China, then 14 year-old  Savannah Grace is taken from her comfortable, Canadian teenage life and thrust into a backpacking trip around the world with her family. Savannah had to let go of all things familiar. It took time, and it wasn’t without pain that she did it, but once she let go, an entire new world literally opened up for her.

In her first few months traveling, Savannah and her family had their share of hardship. Having your minivan break down in Mongolia is definitely rotten luck. Out of this experience, she learned the people of this harsh region of the world had to rely on each other, far more than her native Canada. They were the most hospitable strangers she ever met. Here she and her family were complete strangers to the Mongolians they met, and yet they were offered food, and assistance with their broken down minivan. In letting go to trust these helpful souls, Savannah learned the closest translation to “stranger” in Mongolian is probably something like “friends that haven’t met.”

By the end of their journey in Mongolia, Savannah’s resistance to leaving her Canadian home turned into an openness to experience new adventures. Their next stop was Russia, and she was chomping at the bit to get there. It helped to have an upbeat mother and well-traveled older brother, but they couldn’t let go for Savannah. Letting go to fold into her family’s adventure was definitely a journey she had to take on her own.

Maybe not in the most literal sense, you too can find a new world for yourself by letting go. Believe that you have it all within you to courageously let go of whatever is holding you back.