Once a bird like this swamp sparrow has been banded, weighed, poked, and prodded, I’m eager to get it back in the trees so that it can return to its daily work of feeding and protecting itself. Unlike humans, birds don’t have grocery stores where they can purchase food, nor do they have warm houses with doors that lock at night. I don’t like to keep them from their work to survive too long. But in order to collect reliable and useful data, when we have a bird in hand, we have to hold on to it tight, making sure it is controlled and isn’t going to injure itself or get loose. While in our company, the birds are trapped, with no easy way to escape. When our work is done, however, I delight in letting the bird go. Out of my forceful grip of confinement, I open my hands and the bird is set free. 

I’ve been thinking at length recently about the power of letting go in my own life, especially of those things that confine, stunt, or constrict my growth. I’m especially keen to set free that persistent nemeses called doubt. I’ve heard it said before that doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will. That nagging sense of self-doubt that I carry around in my head at times can be convincing. I’m sure you’ve wrestled with it too from time to time. Doubt is nothing but fear. It limits what we see as possibility, convinces us that the worst case scenario is the most likely, and can be so strong that we disregard all evidence that suggests what we fear the most isn’t at all reality. Doubt can trick the mind and wound the soul.

That is if we give it the space to do so. If we grant our doubts energy, keep them close, and hold on to them tightly, then they surely will gain the upper hand. I’ll admit that I’m guilty of that sometimes, as we all are. I can give too much space to the worst case scenario, discounting all the other just as plausible scenarios that lie in front of me. That really isn’t fair, and it doesn’t make a lot of rational sense, but then doubt isn’t all that rational. The good news though, is that we choose how much space we give doubt. Although it may not be easy, choosing to let go of doubt helps move us forward in possibility. How can we see or move towards those things that are positive or growth-inducing if we are fixated on the things that are not? A bird caught in my hand will peck furiously at my fingers, unable to see anything on the outside. The reality is that that bird will never move forward stuck in my grasp. As long as I hold onto it, it is hostage, just as we can be to our doubt. 

Making the choice to let go of our deepest fears takes courage, because there are no guarantees that what we fear the most won’t come true. But holding on to our fear is a sure bet that we remain a prisoner to it. And frankly, it isn’t at all fun either. At the end of the day, I have no interest in holding birds hostage. I wish not to hold my doubt close either. To reach its full potential, a bird must fly, letting go of any doubt that stands in the way. My hope for you and for me is that we also find ways to shed our doubt – so that we can fly.