December by hawthorne heights

December by hawthorne heights

For most humans, letting go is not something that comes easy. And, in light of that, how can this subject even be defined?

Well, I would consider letting go as the actual moment when one decides that whatever emotional baggage they're hanging on to is no longer worth holding. At the moment that that baggage is released, letting go occurs.

Of course, it's much easier to give the analogy via a descriptive picture than it is for most to actually do what is described.

Myself included.

But I now know, without a doubt, that this letting go is a fact. And it is doable. And it is hard to do. And it will most likely occur for the masses of people desiring it only over a long period of time and inner study of the workings of one's mind and how it operates.

Letting go is something that occurs inside one and it is only visible to that person. Usually it is not tellable outside the person who just let go. It comes as a sense of resolution with the internal mental and emotional struggle that heretofore was battling it out inside the 'mind'.

Letting go is evidenced by a sort of inner peace that the way a situation was responded to before is no longer appropriate, or necessary. There is a way out of the struggle with that situation for that person now...outside of what was used to-date.

The over half-century old saying states:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference."

This is more than just a few words in a trite poem penned by a man in the early 20th century.

These words are something that helps one understand that the actual process of letting go is something that wholly occurs inside one, but forever changes their world outside of them as well.

Why is it so hard to let go and why do so many people struggle with this fact of life?

I believe its because of past behavior and heavily conditioned actions that have, in a sense, solidified the behaviors in the person with the struggle to let go.

Hanging onto one's reaction to a situation is a habit. Pure and simple.

For most it's a deeply entrenched habit that is not going to give up without a struggle. The mind will work ever so hard to have the thinker, the person, believe that the past way of reacting to a situation is the only way to react to that situation.

The mind wants the mind holder to believe that there is no other way to respond to the events that Life throws at us.

And after several decades of conditioning on our own part through existence on this physical plane, and additionally the cultural conditioning over the millenia that was programmed into our genes over that extended period of time, one can easily see how enormous this type of watershed change is going to be. That is, to actually let go.

But, let go of what?

Let go of the past.

Past behavior.

Past thoughts.

Past actions.

Past beliefs.

It's not easy to do. And even though one may say they want it, even though one may say that they believe in it, that is not enough to make it happen.

But, contrary to this, it still does come down to an actual moment of 'letting go'.

Yes, it doesn't make sense. Yes, it still begs the question "So, exactly how do I let go?"

Well, when I found myself posing that type of question once several years ago, I was given the answer that it's kind of like choosing between two different ice cream flavors in the ice cream aisle in the supermarket. How do you chose between vanilla or chocolate? Easy...

You just choose. You see a choice, and then you choose.

Is letting go that easy as well? Well, when done after much resolve and inner conviction, yes, it is.

It's a whole body understanding that the past baggage held inside the mind to-date no longer is appropriate for this same situation from hereon in.

It's a complete and absolute knowing that behaving the way one has to-date no longer is needed. Or necessary.

It's dropping what was. And accepting what is.

It's giving up the struggle with what is.

And to quote J. Khrisnamurti when he was near the latter part of his life: "I don't mind what happens."

I don't mind what happens. When that is felt throughout the body, and only then, is one letting go. There is no mental decision.

Letting go is outside the mind. Letting go is seeing that what is, is. And any amount of denial, fighting, resisting, arguing, wishing, or bargaining isn't going to change what is.

Letting go. It really is an art.

The salient question right here and right now for you, my dear reader, is: Are you willing to wipe off the canvas of your Life, and start now clean, clear, and new?

You can let go of whatever Life situation is bothering you, you know. Trust me on this.