I love to listen to parables of Buddhism. Many of these stories have a common message behind, which is the concept of letting go.

To let go of your wants, your greed, your expectations on things and people etc. and you will be freed.

Easier said than done.

To possess something is easy; to lose it is usually not. Especially when you once (or believe you have) own something you like, letting go of it can be very painful.

The waves of high expectations and disappointments, the come-and-go of things and people, the drifting among countries and jobs etc., are good lessons for me. My weakness is to let go of things that no longer belong to me. I hold some of them so tightly that my heart has no room for other things, till I find that those things I hold on to start to rotten as I squeeze them too tightly.

This is a stamp I created as a gift to myself. The Chinese characters on top of the lotus says “let go and be freed.”

I carve out the characters today with ease. Yet I know, one day I will put these words in life.