Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Troy Aikman, once owned part of a car dealership.  He had been given an opportunity to buy in after he retired from playing, but later decided to sell the business.  When someone asked him about it, he was casually confident about both ends of the sale.  “It made sense when I bought it, and it made sense when I sold it.”

How many times do we hang on to something simply because we made the investment?  Because it should be working?  Or because we’re too embarrassed to admit that things haven’t come together as we had hoped?

Years ago I had a friend who was assigned a boss who was new to the company, and she ended up being a disaster.  All the textbook bad habits were rolled into one package.  Although she had a pleasant personality outside the office, at work she was a disorganized micro-manager.  After a demoralizing year of trying to be accommodating, my friend finally began to think about getting another job.  She wondered out loud over lunch, “How did I get myself into this?!”  Instead, my thought was, “Forget how it happened – How are you getting yourself OUT of this?”

Troy’s story is simple, but powerful.  This week, you may have something which needs to shift.  In fact, a change may be long overdue.  There’s no need to create a long or painful story before you can let it go.  Simply bless it for the opportunities it’s provided and the lessons you learned.  Then release it.  If someone challenges you about your decision, you can give them Troy’s answer.  Super Bowl winning quarterback bravado is optional.