A Snowy Drive Started Me on the Path to Letting Go

After Being Forced to Learn to Let Go, I Discovered How Useful It Is

(Image from Canva Pro)

I only became aware that I needed to learn to let go after two painful events that happened in a short period: my Mom passing away and my divorce. These happened within a few months of each other. I emerged from these experiences holding onto a lot and needing to let go of it if I was ever going to move forward.

Before then, I didn’t know that letting go was a thing. I had never thought about it. But after going through those back-to-back traumas, I knew I had to do something. That’s when I learned that letting go is a common practice that many actively use to heal and move forward with life.

Because I was unaware of the topic, it didn’t occur to me to read self-help books on it or seek a counselor. I can be impetuous and tend towards action. Before I knew it, I found myself on a snowy drive... that turned into a pilgrimage (of sorts.)

What, me!? Go on a pilgrimage? Yeah, and I needed it.

As part of the divorce, we had to sell our home. Between making arrangements for my mother after she passed and ending my marriage, I had neglected to find a new place for me to live. So, I was homeless. I did, however, have my Jeep and my dog. I decided the best thing to do was to visit my family in Saskatchewan, so I set out to see them. It was February and there were snowstorms in the Rocky Mountains. I made my way by slowly driving through blizzards for several hours until I needed to pull over out of fatigue. My dog and I slept in my Jeep until the cold woke us up and then it was time to dig my Jeep out of the snow and drive again. Drive. Stop. Sleep. Dig my Jeep out of the snow. Drive some more. I would take breaks for hot coffee, gas, and a little food when I reached a gas station or a McDonalds. My dog was always excited when we stopped at a McDonald’s because she knew she was getting Chicken McNuggets!

Buddy, my dog, came with me on my journey.

The thing about a drive like that is that it gives you a lot of time to think. I got to contemplate my Mom’s life and our relationship. I also thought a lot about my marriage, my now ex-wife, and the loss of our house. The nice thing about thinking in the isolation of the trip and the surreal (and at times terrifying) drive across mountains and through snowstorms is that I saw past events for what they are: in the past. Even the act of driving away emphasized for me that these traumas were behind me. They were part of me now but I was moving on to something else. In general, as I drove and considered the loss of my mother and the break-up of my marriage, I felt sad but also calm. They, indeed, were behind me.

Near the end of the journey, around 3:00 am and with the city lights of Regina in sight, my Jeep hit a patch of ice and I spun in a circle across four lanes of highway. Miraculously, I didn’t hit anything, I didn’t flip over, and my Jeep stayed on the road.

My Jeep.

I recall the shock I felt the instant I regained control and realized I hadn’t crashed, hit anyone, or flipped over. I thought, “OH MY GOD.” I checked in the backseat to see if my dog was okay. She was snoring peacefully. She had slept through it.

That snapped me out of the surreal aspect of my journey and brought me back to the real world. The contemplative pilgrimage was over and I was focused on the future. The future looked like the city of Regina (and I intended to arrive in one piece) and see my family.

Experiencing the near accident made me feel like I was meant to finish my journey and find out what the future had in store for me. It gave me hope. From there, I went on to experience new things, including my adventure in Peru, my trip to the Galapagos Islands, and later, I even lived a year in Europe.

Upon reflection, I realized that a long and difficult journey, like my drive across the mountains, served an important purpose for me. It gave me a stretch of quiet, contemplative time to consider the past and understand how I found myself at this point in my life. It also marked the end of one period of my life and the beginning of another. It helped me to let go of things in the past that I was holding onto and open space in my life for opportunity and optimism for better things to come in the future.

---

Enjoying Chasing Dreams?

Subscribe for free weekly articles.

Become a Paid Subscriber for exclusive articles, receive feedback on your writing, plus a free e-copy of my book “Meeting People in Real Life.”

Become a Founding Member and enjoy all the Paid Subscriber benefits and private coaching.