I had my writing yesterday afternoon wiped out by a power outage. My wife called for a live report from her bicycle and said all the traffic was being rerouted due to somebody wrestling with a power pole with his or her car. The pole was flattened; I hope the driver did better. I have to trust that whatever is gone is gone for a good reason. My efforts are not lost just redesigned for a latter date and I did get inspired to write about letting go for today’s blog.
Letting go is such a necessary skill in life. If we know how to let go we will have much more energy and freedom. If we don’t, we can be dragged down by the weight of what we carry around with us. Think about the baggage you carry around every day from all the past unfinished business you have with others and situations. Imagine carrying around a two huge backpacks loaded with all the emotions and thoughts that weight you down. Would you be worn out from that effort it took every day? Of course you would unless you were some kind of super Sherpa mountain packer/guide, which you are not.
Letting go is difficult because too often our egos are invested in holding on to our resentments and unfinished hurts and disappointments. We want to get back at those that “did us wrong.’’ We think revenge or getting them good would feel great. Unfortunately that getting back rarely happens or is as satisfying as you had hoped. The fact is why you are fantasizing about this return of justice in your head; you are carrying this burden through life via your thoughts. Your thoughts replay the wrongs except now you are wronging yourself by your own thoughts; you are carrying the negatives forward and causing yourself suffering. Does this really make any sense? Will you really be able to figure why they did what they did in this lifetime? The answer is no and so let it go.
Release all the past regrets, hurts, abuse, sadness, anger and whatever other emotional and mental burdens you carry. If you don’t put them down now for good, then at least be honest and admit you like carrying these wrongs around with you because you get something out of feeling bad. Sure you do or frankly you would be willing to set the past where it needs to be, in the past.
Argue with me if you want but frankly. I am not the one that needs to be convinced of the righteous of your holding on. If you want to feel bad about the past, please don’t stop for me. But at least be honest with yourself. If the past is haunting you, you are the Chief Operation Officer (COO) of you own life. If you don’t believe me take the time to put the emotional backpacks down for one week and see if you don’t feel lighter. If you really try this experiment, I doubt you will pick the anchors to the past up again. Freedom is a wonderful feeling.
Today I challenge you to take some time and look at what you need to release, let go of, forgive, and move on from. Make a commitment to your own freedom and peace of mind and put down your burdens once and for all. You deserve to be liberated from your own mind; you deserve to be lightened up from your emotions; you deserve to have fun and to be free to enjoy each moment.