A side note to begin…
In the eastern world the term “Letting Go” has been around for centuries in their teachings and philosophies. In the western world, this concept is starting to gain more traction, and can sometimes be misinterpreted or misused.
I read somewhere that to help westerners understand the concept of “letting go”, they should associate it with their phase of “fuck it”. This is the level and depth in which letting go needs to be understood and observed.
When you get to a point in your life where you are saying “fuck it”, it generally means you are ready to let go.
It’s not about being submissive or passive in your life.
One of the hardest things we can face in life is giving up control and letting go. To not have a plan, to not have everything mapped out, to not know what is around the corner. Yet it is exactly the place where growth and development happen for us.
Letting go has many aspects to it. It could take the form of letting go of:
- how life has turned out for you
- relationships that don’t serve you any longer
- that dream/idea you had once, that isn’t what you truly want anymore
- the things people say and do to you
- trying to control the outcomes in life, in relationships, at work
- titles, status and labels in our lives
- your need to know
Letting go is not an act of submission, giving up or giving over to an external force in your life. You are not giving up control to something external to yourself.
The Act of Surrendering
Letting go is an act of surrendering to your soul, to be led by your heart instead of being led by your head in all things. Our egoic self can struggle with this process, fearing that it is being left out or left behind or eradicated completely.
When we truly let go, and surrender to our own soul and engage the universe to support us, that is when things shift and change for us. It is at this point that we have stopped trying to control the
outcome and we are allowing life to happen and unfold for us.
To truly let go you need to feel it, not just think it or say it. The universe hears and acts on what you mean, what you expect and what you feel; not what you say or think.
As beings who are certainty driven it can be difficult to surrender to the ebbing and flowing of life.
Some questions to explore for yourself:
- What is possible for me if I let go and lead from my soul, from my heart?
- What is the highest possibility for my life if I let go of those things that no longer serve me?
- What part of my life is not working out the way I always wanted it to? If I practised the art of letting go, and trying not to control it or the outcomes, what is possible for this area of my life?
- What titles, statuses or labels am I beholden to in my life? How are they limiting my life because I am choosing to hold onto them? What could be possible for me if I let go of them?
Letting go is a practice
When something comes up in your life, perhaps you are struggling or being challenged in some way, practice being aware of the situation and observe:
- how it makes you feel and where you feel it in your body,
- what behaviours you start to display,
- what you start to think and say to others and to yourself.
Once you gain awareness of the situation and have observed it, practice letting it go. Viewing the situation as an observer instead of the participant. Coming from the place of your soul, your heart
and not your head. A place of grace, and unconditional love instead of logic.
Remember our growth and development happens in this beautiful space of letting go.
