Letting Go

But I won't say, 'You should, you should!' 

I'll let you choose it if you would.

'Cause very most importantly,

I am choosing to be me."

Hippo learned it's okay to be himself, and he learned to let go of worrying what others thought, and chose authenticity and presented his own reality.  He learned to let go of trying to control his friend - to let go of trying to make them like him by always doing what they wanted him to do.  He let go and stopped trying to protect their feelings by saying things he didn't mean, in case of offending them.  He let go, and learned honesty and vulnerability instead, stating his discomfort and asserting his real feelings.  He let go of fear and took the risk that his friends may be disappointed, or laugh at who he really is.  He let go and gave his friends the ability to choose to like him for HIM.  Hippo learned the art of letting go.

Another useful handout from a very good psychologist:

Letting Go...

To let go doesn't mean to stop caring.

It means that I can't do it for someone else.

To let go is not to cut myself off.

It's the realization that I can't control another.

To let go is not to judge,

But to allow another to be a human being.

To let go is not to be in the middle arranging outcomes,

But to allow others to affect their own decisions.

To let go is not to be protective.

It is to permit another to face reality.

To let go is not to nag, scold, or argue,

But to instead search out my own shortcomings and correct them.

To let go is not to criticize and regulate anyone,

But to take each day as it comes, and cherish myself in it.

To let go is not to fix,

But to be supportive.

To let go is not to enable,

But to allow learning from natural consequences.

To let go is to admit powerlessness,

Which means the outcome is out of my hands.

To let go is not to care for,

But to care about.

To let go is not to deny,

But to accept.

To let go is not to regret the past,

But to grow and live for the future.

To let go is to fear less,

And to love more.