“Letting go doesn’t mean removing it. Letting go means doing so.” ~Jack Cornfield
I have to admit bats right away. As a serial entrepreneur, I am a risk taker. Throughout my 20s and 30s, I jumped at the opportunity without constantly judging the characters I was involved in or asking what the six months of the journey looked like. I trusted, I leapt, I learned.
At 23, I started my first real business with another partner, a luxury pet resort. There was a climate-controlled suite, a beautiful play garden, and classical music that played softly in the background. An elaborate four-layer fountain greeted guests in the lobby. There you can also see the handmade “Catio” patio built by his father himself.
Within a few months, I had already changed my profits. On the surface, my dreams seemed to come true. But something was felt.
My partner, M, was in charge of books. First, we left out the small red flag. The checks deposited here, there is a contradiction. However, after the last guest was picked up, I went to the office, pulled the book and began doing a deeper investigation. What I found left me cold.
There was a massive drawer that I had not approved. The checks were made directly to M, but we had agreed on how much we would take each of them from the business, but these amounts were far beyond our arrangements and were happening much more frequently.
I was incredibly sick. I stood up to her. She cried. She apologized. But she does not provide an explanation, only tears. I continued asking, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Betrayal has become a stranger. The tension rose. Communication has broken down. One day I pulled into the car park and someone was there – they recorded the video because they believed I would be physically violent (I?
Wait, what?
I was the company president. I had all the money left. That was my vision. My energy. My debt.
But here is the problem. I trusted M to process legal documents. And I believed I was an equal owner, but I didn’t confirm that the document said so. I was not listed as a shareholder. I had no legal interests.
I was the president of a company I didn’t actually own.
At 33, I didn’t know what to look for. I had no real business background – ambition, trust, and big dreams. And now I’ve been lied, stolen, and kicked out of the very place I built.
His desire for revenge was overwhelming. I wanted to scream. I wanted to sue him. I wanted justice.
I met with a lawyer. I compared the options. And in the end, I had to accept one of the most difficult truths of my life. The pursuit of justice may fill me further. Legal costs, emotional victims – that wasn’t a battle I could afford to win. So I’ll let it do.
This was the beginning of a long line of “Let It Be’s” with many entrepreneurial difficulties, failures and mistrust. It was the first time we’d ever had an incredibly wild trip in the next 20 years. I have been mistreated over and over again. He expressed greed, anger, narcissism, and the pain of total insanity.
And trust me, the demon on my shoulder was preparing a full revenge script – dramatic and trivial, the boundaries are illegal. But I have never acted on it.
every. single. time.
And all the truth about it is not easy to take a higher path. It’s difficult to do things.
But that’s not weakness. That’s wisdom.
Because this is what I’ve learned: Just fighting fire with more fire will burn you. And the more oxygen you give, the bigger it becomes. The longer you stick to betrayal, the longer you will be caught up in it.
And time? It’s valuable.
Instead of plotting revenge, I began to rebuild. First, I collapsed. Then, bricks, I picked up myself. I changed direction. I’ve started.
This is what helped me:
I’ve become quiet. There are no epic social media posts or smear campaigns. Just a space. Silence gave me clarity. I got help. From a mentor, a therapist, a friend who told the truth when I couldn’t see it. I wrote it all down. fact. Emotions. Fear. Putting it on paper helped me to handle it. I was held responsible. Not for what M did, but for what I missed. I studied, I learned, I vowed I would never get much information again.
I chose to allow it, so I did not have the weight of revenge, I moved forward with grace, and my integrity remained intact.
Yes, I lost my money. I’ve lost it for years. I lost my dream.
But I did not lose myself.
To make them do that doesn’t mean pretending it didn’t happen. That means choosing not to move it forward. It means creating peace with things you can’t control and placing your energy where it counts.
This was the first of the long experiences I have experienced throughout my entrepreneurial journey. After this event I faced more heartbreaks and challenges. But every time I chose to let it do.
Sir Paul McCartney once shared how his mother visited him in a dream and spoke to him simple words: “Let’s do that.”
Well, Mother Mary – you were right.
This is how to do that.
So next time you stand in the face of betrayal, I hope for you – you will let it do.
It takes a lot of time here. Don’t waste in a fight that doesn’t build us.
About Brooklyn Call
Brookelynn Cohol is a writer, entrepreneur, songwriter and creator with a focus on personal growth, resilience and creative expression. She believes it will take a lot of times and then it will just take it over again. Connect with her and her current projects and Ellavatour.com.
