Let go or be dragged. – Lao Tzu

Letting go is never popular. It implies failure, defeat, or not getting what we want. We always think we’re on the losing end when we finally decide, or are forced, to let go. But there is a deeper lesson in letting go, on the flip side there is receiving. It’s in the letting go that the necessary space is created in order to receive something new. The truth is we can’t have it all, but we can get what we need, those things that heal and transform our lives. And this requires letting go, but not just any letting go, gracefully letting go.

The letting go I’m talking about isn’t resentfully relinquishing, it’s about grateful surrender. How to tell them apart? It’s the difference between a closed fist and an open heart. We have to mean it, we have to let go with love and complete trust, and know that when we do we’ll receive exactly what it is we need. It doesn’t even sound easy does it? In all honesty it can be scary, we fight against it, we impose our ready-made solutions, we always think we know better. But the truth is we don’t have any control in what will come or in the way it will arrive. We are left to cultivate a deeper kind of peace, trusting that the something else that comes will be the very something we need most. This is not anything we can manipulate, all we can do is come to terms with the situation as it is, be flexible in our approach to a solution, and then let go, of our expectations, our grasping, and our forcing.

Here is where the magic happens, it resides within our intention. The how of letting go is just as important, if not more so, then the actual letting go. How we let go dictates how light or how heavy we feel and in the end this is everything. This is how we change our life. A begrudging letting go keeps us stuck. Willfully releasing brings a lightness and aliveness, it lets us move forward. We let go because holding on is a death. When we try to control, twist, and contort not only do we not get what it is we think we want, everything else around us unravels and our frustration and overwhelm grows.

Nothing of real value can ever come with force. When our intention is based more on an open hands and open heart approach we will absolutely catch everything that belongs to us. So letting go is a regular practice not a singular event. Let go every day, every hour, every time we feel ourselves clutching or holding on. Letting go clears out the cobwebs. Remember, what is really ours can never be taken away.

Practice letting go and see how light and joyful life becomes. You might be amazed at the things you no longer need.

kb