Thanks for your great and wise posts, ladies. It got me thinking. Letting go of my grown children's lives and focusing on my own has changed me immensely. I not only let go of their emotions, but I let go of the expectations others have of me and am very comfortable moving from a house to a small apartment and getting rid of most of my belongings and just living in a minimalistic way. Just like living the lives through others does not make us peaceful or happy, neither does having a car for others to envy or a big house that you really don't need anymore. I have learned to let go of everything superficial an d focus on my peace of mind, my serenity, the beauty of life that you can't buy, like the sky and trees and flowers, things I was too busy or stressed out to notice before. (Of course I slip up but not as often as I expected.)
I thank you all for helping me learn that letting go is such a positive experience and can set a person free to see what is truly important and what has always been there that we may have ignored. Your posts here were all amazing.