Live and Let Go

My grand dad reading from a piece of book once read “It would be better if, instead of a thousand words there was only one, a word that brought Peace. It would be better if, instead of a thousand poems, there was only one, a poem that revealed true beauty. It would be better if, instead of a thousand songs, there was only one, a song that spread happiness, and therefore to stay with one, you need to let go of the rest” To "let go" is to fear less and to love more.

How many times in my life, and how many times have you in your lives let go? Think about those million moments which has passed your life, just because you had to let go of them. You let go of your age, to let go of your short pants, to let go of your pain, your emotional bags and sometimes even letting go of your very own happiness, just so that someone else can have a smile. Letting go unknowingly becomes an integral part of our little sweet lives. Once in a while we feel bad that we have done it for someone near and dear, but remember "letting go" is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.

* Listen to this beautiful song as you read it : The Snow Before Us

These following words, ‘Letting Go’, ‘Releasing’ ‘Moving on’ These are words that come to mind when holding on to the status quo becomes too painful or takes too much energy in ones life. We do eventually waste a lot of time thinking on the events which we have let go. But the best of part of life begins with the word letting go…

Even when we're ready, it's seldom easy to let go. But when we do, both we and the other person can become the people we were meant to — love without feeling we must control or be dependent on the other for our happiness. The healing and release we feel when we're finally able to truly let go can't happen, however, until we allow a shift to occur within us, until we're ready for a new way of looking at things, a perspective that each one of us has to dearly carry in our hearts and minds to move us in a way forward.

We move in this so called society with total stochasticity, we have no control over whom we meet or who we give ourselves into. At times we make the best of mistakes rightfully knowing that we have no choice but to do it. How many of us think of a choice and decide our actions?

How many of us foresee what’s in store for us? Our actions, our mind have a lot more to do with what and who we are.

Here’s a Thought:

Take a moment, relax, breathe deeply and imagine you are a mountain climber. Visualize how you look dressed in your mountain climbing gear.

You are climbing one of the largest mountains in the world and are very close to reaching the peak. This is a goal you've had all your life. You’ve prepared yourself physically and mentally to reach this goal by constant training for years. You feel strong and great. You are about to begin the final stretch to the peak, when you decide to rest on a small ledge which juts out about three feet from the mountain. There is a sheer vertical drop beneath the ledge. You fasten yourself securely to the ledge.

You see another climber approaching you from below. Eventually he reaches the ledge. He lifts himself up and sits down next to you on the ledge. “Wow,” he says, looking over the edge, “It’s a long way down.” He’s wearing a rope tied around his waist and holds the loose end in his hands. He holds out the end of the rope and says, “Take this. Hold it tight and whatever you do, don’t let go.”

You take the rope and, to your surprise the man stands up and jumps over the side of the ledge yelling, “Don’t let go! I’ll fall thousands of feet if you do.” You hold on with all your strength. The man is suspended over the ledge, and sure to die if he fell.

You try to pull him up but he is too heavy. You offer suggestions about how he could climb back up the rope hand over hand. The man shouts back, “Hold on. Don’t let go. If you let go, I’ll die.” You tug and pull but nothing works. The afternoon is beginning to fade. It’s getting colder and the wind is blowing harder. You have to do something; otherwise you’ll not reach the peak which you can see through the mist and clouds.

You think of a way the man can wrap the rope around himself and eventually pull himself up and shout the instructions. The man replies, “No, please, please don’t let go. I’ll fall to my death if you do.”

You coax, wheedle, scream, and yell at the climber all to no avail. You realize you are running out of time, and if you don’t do something, you will not reach the mountain peak. Finally, in desperation you shout the instructions one more time and say, “If you don’t do this, I’m going to let go of the rope.”

The man responded, “No, No, please hold on. If you let go, I’ll die. Just hang on tight.”

You let go of the rope and climb to the peak of the mountain.

***

Now, take a moment, and think about the scenario. What is it in your life that you are holding on to that is represented by the climber? What is it that you are holding on to so tightly that it is keeping you from getting on with your life? Think about that thing at the end of the rope and think about what it would mean to let go of it? Was it worth staying stuck in order to keep that thing at the end of the rope alive? What really would happen if you let go of it?

Once you can imagine yourself letting go of the climber, you feel a tremendous emotion. The power of metaphors lies in the fact that they speak in the more primary process of the unconscious mind. Metaphors encourage unconscious processing of information. This will make it easier for you to really “let go” of your fears and past traumatic experiences by visualizing this story over and over.

Considering that we spend most of our lives in a slowly deteriorating physical shell, this pursuit is an exercise in frustration. This desire for physical perfection arises out of fear. Fear of not being pretty enough. Good enough. Desirable enough. And, of course, fear is at the root of unhappiness. Some will spend their lives chasing financial wealth, only to wake up one day and discover that all they’ve created is emotional and spiritual poverty. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being wealthy, except when that wealth defines us. If only we taught our kids (and ourselves) that being rich has nothing to do with money or material possessions. Some of us have spent years (and years) trying to ‘find’ ourselves.

Maybe it’s time to stop looking and simply let go of everything that isn’t us? When I let go of everything I am trying to do, be, create and own, there I am. And while I might do, be, create and own much in my life, I am none of those things and they are not me. I can’t be found in things. And neither can you.

Remember, you have already started letting go, right from the time you were born… You left your womb to gracefully enter this beautiful world, and one day you’d have to let go of what’s yours to the eternal unknown and in between that period what good you had held upon close to your heart is all what will matter to you!!

“It’s not about giving in or giving up. Letting go isn’t about loss and it’s not about defeat. To let go is to cherish the memories, but to overcome and move on. It is having an open mind confidence in the future. Letting go is learning and experiencing and growing. To let go is to be thankful for the experiences that made you laugh, made you cry, and made you grow. It’s about all that you have, all that you had, and all that you will soon gain. Letting go is having the courage to accept change, and the strength to keep moving.

Letting go is growing up.”